Victory celebrated on the steps of the Courthouse in Anderson, SC

Pernanza Hill, who is 46 years old, illiterate and mildly mentally retarded, was riding his bicycle to work on the shoulder of Hwy. 25 in Edgefield County, South Carolina at 7:41 A.M. on February 16, 2006 when a reckless tractor trailer driver swerved off the road and struck him at 60 mph with 60,000 pounds of force.

Pernanza underwent brain surgery, suffered permanent brain damage, a severely fractured left leg that required a 1.2 foot long metal rod and 4 metal screws to put back together, a subsequent bone graft surgery, a minor laceration to his liver, a separated shoulder, fractured ribs, a fractured left hand, a large hematoma on his lower back, and other injuries.

The trucking company was cited by the South Carolina Highway Patrol for Driving Too Fast For Conditions and Falsifying their Log Book. Desperate to avoid accepting responsibility for this catastrophe, the trucking company immediately went into defense mode and within one hour of the wreck hired a big trucking defense law firm in Atlanta, Georgia, a professional engineer from North Carolina, and two insurance company investigators from Georgia. The investigators and expert witness, along with the Risk Manager of the Company from Arkansas, converged on the scene the day of the wreck, and the following day, began tampering with evidence, and showed up uninvited to the hospital and offered Mr. Hill’s illiterate mother a check for $2,000 while Pernanza lay in ICU fighting for his very life with severe swelling on his brain.

The family was horrified at this conduct and contacted the Neal Law Office. Mr. Neal immediately filed suit on Pernanza’s behalf and, less than a year from the date of the wreck, tried this case before a Federal Court Jury in Anderson, South Carolina, obtaining a $3,000,000 verdict on January 25, 2007. Mr. Neal proved the trucking company was willful, wanton, and reckless, had tampered with evidence, and had tampered with witnesses. The jury levied a $1,000,000 punitive damage penalty against Arkansas based USA Truck, Inc. for its unlawful and unethical conduct in this wreck and subsequent litigation.

Destroyed Bycicle

Pernanza Hill miraculously survived this wreck but has life-long injuries to his brain, left leg, and lower back. Pernanza, who loved his job more than anything except his two children, will never work again. USA Truck destroyed his life. He will live with a metal rod and screws in his leg the rest of his life. He will walk with a limp and have to use a crutch the rest of his life. He will stutter and forget things the rest of his life. He will have to have someone help him with the activities of daily living for the rest of his life.

The Neal Law Office thanks God for Justice in this case and for the Jury system in the United States of America. USA Truck, Inc. callously did not even offer to pay Mr. Hill’s medical bills. The Jury made sure this reckless trucking company will pay for all of his past and future medical care and compensated him fully for his severe injuries. Mr. Neal’s father, Joe Neal, Sr. tried the case with him and together, father and son delivered True Justice for a South Carolina citizen in great need. We are proud to have served as Pernanza Hill’s “Warriors For Justice.”