An online sleuth has said it was 'easy' for him to uncover what's been described as the 'most important piece of evidence' in Gwyneth Paltrow's ski slope trial.
Hear tech investigator Michael Fletcher explain how he found the evidence:
Paltrow, 50, is being sued by 76-year-old retired optometrist, Dr Terry Sanderson, for allegedly running into him while skiing on Flagstaff Mountain near Park City, Utah, in 2016.
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Sanderson has alleged he was left with multiple injuries as a result of the collision, including 'permanent traumatic brain injury, four broken ribs, pain, suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, emotional distress and disfigurement'.
He's seeking $300,000 in compensation, but last week Paltrow testified that Sanderson was actually the one who ran into her, claiming: “There was a body pressing against me and a very strange grunting noise. My brain was trying to make sense of what was happening.”
One way to get to the bottom of what happened would be to watch the GoPro footage filmed by Sanderson, which was mentioned by his daughter after he emailed her a link to his ski discussion forum.
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Last week, Paltrow's lawyers accused Sanderson of deleting the footage, and when his team attempted to open the link sent by Sanderson, they found they couldn't access the information it contained.
This is where Fletcher comes in.
Speaking to CourtTV, Fletcher said: “They kept repeating, ‘It’s the most important piece of evidence,’ and they couldn’t figure it out. They [just] didn’t know how to open the link ... "
Meanwhile, Fletcher said it only took him two minutes to find the information included in the link.
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"Honestly, it’s comical how easy it was, I can’t believe they didn’t do this already. It’s almost a joke ... [It was] just common sense," he said.
Fletcher explained that the link led to a sign in screen, and that 'all [he] did was create a login'.
"If it’s a website that requires a login, you can’t access anything on it without a login. All I did was use my Google account to create a login to the website. Then the link works. It’s simple," he said.
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Unfortunately the link didn't lead to the GoPro video, but it did a series of exchanges between Sanderson and a witness in the case, Craig Ramon.
Among the messages, Ramon had written: "You could not make this up. Gwyneth took out Terry last week.
“Last Saturday, her son broke his arm skiing at Park City. Gwyneth was staying at the Montage. She took her plane out of Millionaire Airport. What makes me mad is Gwyneth took out Terry and then took off.”
The messages came in contrast to claims Sanderson had made previously, when he alleged neither he or his key eyewitness were immediately aware that it was Paltrow who was involved in the accident.
Topics: Gwyneth Paltrow, US News
Emily Brown