California man who lost his legs to Amtrak train denies claim he was attempting suicide

The Amtrak amputation lawsuit playing out in Sacramento federal court devolved into a duel of witnesses Wednesday, with one woman claiming Joe Nevis told her he was trying to kill himself when he laid down on the railroad tracks six years ago and Nevis and his sister denying that.

Emily Hilbers, a 27-year-old Sutter County plumbing office manager and would-be cannabis entrepreneur, testified that Nevis had told her years ago that he ended up on the tracks because he wanted to kill himself.

“His intent was to take his life, and I know this because he told me,” Hilbers said, repeating claims she first made in court late Tuesday without the jury present.

Hilbers said she once had been best friends with Nevis’ half-sister, Samantha Scrogin, and that some time between the December 2016 train incident and June 2017 she was in a car with Scrogin and Nevis when he made the statement.

“I am paraphrasing,” Hilbers said. “He told me and Sam that his intention was to take his life that night.”

Hilbers was a last-minute witness for the defense — Amtrak, Marysville’s Rideout Hospital and Dr. Hector Lopez — and first brought her claim to light in an Oct. 11 voicemail to attorneys for Rideout.

Officials at the law firm did not listen to the voicemail until earlier this week, and summoned Hilbers to testify about the potentially explosive claim.

Nevis has claimed he has no memory of how he ended up on the tracks that night, and his lawyer has said he was picked up by Yuba City police and sent to Rideout because he was too intoxicated to go to jail in the early morning hours of Dec. 24, 2016.

His lawsuit claims Lopez and Rideout were negligent by allowing him to walk out of the hospital that night, and that Amtrak engineers should have been more alert hours later when the passenger locomotive rolling north through Marysville sliced off his legs and kept going.

The notion that Nevis was attempting suicide could blow a hole in those arguments, and Scrogin, Nevis’ half-sister and a Sutter County kindergarten teacher, told jurors Nevis had never discussed suicide.

She suggested Hilbers may have misunderstood Nevis when he bemoaned the fact that he thought his life was over after the incident, where he spent hours alongside the tracks using one leg as a pillow until he was discovered by a passerby.

“Not end his life,” Scrogin said. “He said he thought his life was over after that, but not that he wanted to end his life.

“It’s not true. I’ve never heard him say those words before.”

Nevis, who testified earlier in the trial, was then recalled to the stand by his attorney, Raymond McElfish, to make a similar denial.

“It is not true,” Nevis said. “She could have twisted the words around, but it’s nothing I’ve ever said — suicide.”

Nevis said that when he rolled himself away from the railroad tracks after waking up and finding his legs were gone, he “said my goodbyes because I thought I was going to die.” But, he added, he never told anyone he was attempting suicide that night.

Much of Hilbers’ testimony Wednesday morning was interrupted by objections from McElfish and repeated admonishments by U.S. District Judge Dale Drozd that she answer questions directly and orders that some of her comments not be considered by the jury.

McElfish, who tried to keep Hilbers from testifying, started his questioning by saying, “Let’s begin with how you inserted yourself into this case,” then zeroed in on the fact that she is involved with a cannabis company.

Hilbers said she was trying to form a start-up that produces cannabis-infused pain creams and acknowledged that she uses marijuana recreationally, but said she was not using it back when Nevis made the alleged statement about suicide.

McElfish also focused on her claims that the car ride with Nevis and his sister occurred between the time of the train accident and June 2017, a time frame she supported by writings in a journal she kept.

Drozd said the journal entry said something to the effect of, “Sam’s brother’s botched suicide attempt,” and Hilbers acknowledged under questioning from attorneys that she cannot remember when the car ride took place.

“It could have been months before that journal entry, you are correct,” she said. “It’s possible that it was a week before, it’s possible that it was a day before, it’s possible it was five months before.”

McElfish also noted that Hilbers could not remember what she said on the voicemail she left for Rideout attorneys on Oct. 11 after learning about the case from a radio broadcast.

But she testified that she recalled the essence of a call with Rideout attorney Bob Zimmerman when he called her this week in response to the voicemail.

“He said, ‘I’m interested in what you have to say, can you please let me know what you know,’” Hilbers said. “I told him I had information about the Joe Nevis case, that he tried to take his life and that this is a big open secret among those who know him.”

McElfish has written in court papers that he will ask the jury for a $32 million judgment against the defendants, and Hilbers said Tuesday she considered that an effort by Nevis to wrongfully take money.

The trial began nearly three weeks ago and was expected to go to closing arguments Wednesday afternoon.