A car that rolled along U.S. Highway 20/26 in April, causing the deaths of three passengers, was driving in the oncoming lane of traffic prior to the crash, a Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper testified Tuesday.

That determination is consistent with driver Amanda Snay's recollection that her front seat passenger grabbed the wheel "to save us," before the crash, Trooper Scott Keane testified during Snay's preliminary hearing.

Snay, 20, is charged with vehicular homicide in connection with the deaths of her three passengers. She was driving a Chevrolet Monte Carlo that crashed about 40 miles west of Casper on April 23.

Snay was the only person to survive the crash, which happened at about 10:40 p.m. Tests taken two hours after the crash showed methamphetamine and alcohol in her system.

At the hearing, a Natrona County Circuit judge ruled there was enough evidence to move the case on to district court.

Investigators determined the crash was caused by radical steering, but not on the part of the passenger, according to Keane's testimony. Instead, passenger Adrian Produit might have recognized the car had drifted into the oncoming lane and grabbed the wheel to bring it back into the proper lane.

Keane suggested that Snay might have panicked at that point and steered the car to the left and off the highway, where it rolled.

All four occupants were thrown from the car. Adam Tucker, 21, died at the scene. Produit, 31, and Shantel Miller, 16, died later at Wyoming Medical Center.

Keane arrived at the scene of the crash just after 11 p.m. He found that the Monte Carlo had come to rest on top of a fence with its headlights on. Snay, he said, was sitting on the fence.

After attending to the injured, Keane spoke with Snay. She admitted to having drunk alcohol, he testified.

The crash occurred as the group was heading back to Casper from Shoshoni. They left at about 9:30 p.m. for Casper and stopped at a rest stop in Waltman about 10:20 p.m.

Snay had drank some vodka on the drive to Shoshoni and some beer on the return trip, according to the testimony.

She told investigators that after leaving the rest stop, Produit reminded her he needed to be back in Casper by 11 p.m. and put his foot on the gas pedal, accelerating the car to between 75 mph and 80 mph, Keane told the court.

As they drove, Produit and Tucker had an argument and Snay turned up the radio. She told investigators the car began having mechanical problems. At some point, Produit grabbed the wheel and when she took the wheel back, the car drove off the highway and crashed.

A mechanic later examined the car and found nothing wrong with the vehicle that would have caused the car crash, Keane said.

After Keane testified, highway patrol Trooper Tom Pritchard told the court the car was traveling 74 mph before the crash. There were no indications of braking at the beginning of the crash, but the car's brakes had been applied just before it left the highway, he added.

Snay, who entered the court with help of a walker, wiped her eyes several times during the hearing. She remains held at Natrona County Detention Center on $75,000 bond.

Reach crime reporter Joshua Wolfson at (307) 266-0582 or at josh.wolfson@trib.com.