THURSDAY, September 10, 2026|
Photo – Saviol Saint Jean – Courtesy SWCSO
The Wyoming Supreme Court will hear the appeal from the commercial truck driver convicted of killing a Memorial Hospital EMT and severely injuring another.
Around four in the morning on December 21st, 2022, Haitian‑born commercial truck driver Saviol Saint Jean was traveling westbound on Interstate 80 when he crashed into the back of a Memorial Hospital of Carbon County ambulance. EMTs Tyeler Harris and Tiffany Gruetzmacher were responding to an earlier incident when they were struck. Harris was killed, and Gruetzmacher was severely injured.
Earlier this year, Saint Jean was sentenced in Sweetwater County District Court to up to 14 years in prison for aggravated assault and vehicular homicide.
On July 1st, attorneys for Saint Jean filed a brief of appellant with the Wyoming Supreme Court to overturn his conviction. In the document, attorneys argued that there was not sufficient evidence for the jury to conclude, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Saint Jean acted recklessly when he hit the Memorial Hospital ambulance.
In the appeal documents, the driver’s attorneys argued that the state failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Saint Jean consciously disregarded a substantial and unjustifiable risk. The attorneys also wrote that the jurors overlooked the steps Saint Jean took to avoid the crash, including slowing down when he saw the ambulance lights. Instead, they contend that he simply misjudged the ambulance’s location because of a glare on his windshield and could not stop in time.
The Wyoming Attorney General’s office disagreed. On August 14th, Senior Assistant Attorney General Kristen R. Jones filed a counter brief stating that Saint Jean testified he saw the ambulance go by and the emergency lights farther down the road. Jones wrote that the driver admitted he couldn’t tell where the ambulance was, but assumed it was on the right, and moved over without reducing his speed. The Assistant Attorney General added that other drivers slowed enough to stop because they also could not fully understand the scene ahead.
On Tuesday, September 8th, the Wyoming Supreme Court announced that the justices will hear Saint Jean’s appeal. Oral arguments are scheduled for 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, October 15th at the University of Wyoming College of Law’s Brimmer Legal Education Center in Laramie.
Per the Wyoming Rules of Appellate Procedure, each oral argument will be limited to 60 minutes. The proceedings will be livestreamed on the Wyoming Judicial Branch’s website, www.wyocourts.gov.
