Gwyneth Paltrow Testifies in Court

Gwyneth Paltrow was distracted by one of her children yelling ‘Mommy, Mommy watch me ski,’ and crashed into a 72-year-old causing permanent brain injury, it was claimed in court Tuesday.

Paltrow turned to watch the child and the next thing she knew she had collided with retired optometrist Terry Sanderson, his lawyer Lawrence Buhler said.

‘She knew what she was doing was dangerous and she knew it was reckless,' said Buhler in his opening statement on the first day of a trial where Sanderson is suing the Oscar-winning actress.

The accident occurred on Utah’s Bandana Mountain in 2016. At the time Paltrow’s daughter Apple was 11 and her son Moses was 9.

'At the top of Bandana – one of Ms. Paltrow's children says, ''mommy, mommy, watch me ski,' Buhler claimed.

'They go to the left. Gwyneth Paltrow goes to the right.

'She looks up to see her children and as she looks down, she screams. She skis into the back of Terry Sanderson.

'Sanderson is face down in the snow unconscious.'

Sanderson claims the accident left him with a permanent brain injury, although Paltrow’s attorney Stephen Owens said he had had an earlier accident that caused the damage.

Buhler said the Sliding Doors actress was skiing ‘recklessly when she collided with Sanderson.

'She knew that if she continued to ski that way, if she kept looking up to the side, someone would get seriously hurt,’ he said Paltrow, 50, her husband Brad Falchuk, 52 and the two childrenApple, now 18 and Moses, 16, will all testify.

He said Paltrow was left 'freaked out' by the crash that allegedly left optometrist Terry Sanderson, 72, with a permanent brain injury.

Sanderson has said Paltrow crashed into him but Owens described how Sanderson's skis appeared between her feet before the pair tumbled to the ground.

Of Sanderson's claim – that Paltrow had crashed into him leaving him badly injured – Owens added: 'We think this is BS.'

Owens claimed that once Sanderson realized who he had hit, he flagged down Ski Patrol, telling them he was hurt badly enough to need help to get off the mountain.