Plaintiff rips Gwyneth Paltrow’s ‘disregard’ in trial opening

PARK CITY, Utah — Academy Award-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow’s “conscious disregard for people” led her to run into a retired optometrist on the ski slopes — leaving him with a traumatic brain injury, a court heard on Tuesday.

The attorney for Dr. Terry Sanderson — who is suing Paltrow over the Feb. 26, 2016 “hit and run” crash — branded the health-conscious star as callous and “reckless” as the two sides faced off in a Park City, Utah courtroom for the first day of trial.

“Distracted skiers cause crashes. Defendant Gwyneth Paltrow knew that looking up the mountain and to the side, while skiing down the mountain, was dangerous,” lawyer Lawrence D. Buhler said in his opening statement.

“And she knew that skiing that way … was reckless,” he told the jury.

Sanderson, 69, is accusing Paltrow, 50, of causing him permanent brain damage after she allegedly plowed into him and fled at Deer Valley Resort. The former Army optometrist, is seeking $300,000 in damages from the Goop founder.

Paltrow countersued the retired vet, insisting he was the one who ran into her and that she stayed at the scene. She is asking the court to force Sanderson to pay her legal fees and a paltry $1 in damages.

Sanderson’s attorney told jurors Paltrow was skiing down a green hill with her two children, her future husband, Brad Falchuk, and four instructors when she slammed into his client from behind.

The actress, Buhler said, spent “thousands of dollars a day” on multiple instructors for her young children, which allowed the family to skip lines.

“Ms. Paltrow has been skiing since she was three-years-old, she considers herself an intermediate skier. She has skied about a half a dozen times at Deer Valley ski resort,” he told the court.

Paltrow fell on top of Sanderson, Buhler said, causing the former doctor to break four ribs and sustain a concussion.

After, Paltrow allegedly “bolted” from the scene. One of the star’s ski instructors asked Sanderson’s friend if he understood “‘that your buddy just took out Gwyneth Paltrow,’” the attorney claimed.

Sanderson, who was briefly unconscious following the crash, was evaluated by first aid workers at the resort before going to a health care facility in Park City, Buhler said.

The following day, he was also seen in the emergency room at the VA hospital.

Sanderson’s attorneys say their client still suffers from brain injury symptoms years after the crash.

Paltrow, wearing a cream-colored sweater, was mostly emotionless in court. She briefly shook her head when her attorney, Steve Owens, took issue with the Buhler’s description of how she “bolted” from the crash site.

Sources close to the Oscar winner told The Post that Paltrow is planning to take the stand in her own defense, and the actress was in court Tuesday to kick off the trial.

Prior to her own attorneys’ statements, Paltrow entered and exited the court with a blue notebook covering her face.