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SALT LAKE CITY — Ralph Menzies' attorneys officially contested his execution warrant on Wednesday, following a notice that they intended to oppose it and a request the court consider his competency.
Menzies, 65, is on death row after being convicted of aggravated murder and aggravated kidnapping on March 9, 1988.
On Jan.18, one day after the state of Utah filed an application for his execution warrant, Menzies asked to delay scheduling a death warrant hearing and said he intended to file an opposition before the end of January.
"Ralph Menzies' brain has atrophied to the point that he does not understand why the state of Utah wants to kill him," Lindsey Layer, Menzies' attorney, said in a statement on Wednesday.
She said evaluations show Menzies knows the state seeks to execute him, but doesn't understand the reason, or its connection to his crime. She said his mental condition is documented through brain imaging and neurological exams.
On Tuesday, the state agreed to a mental competency examination, and asked for evaluations from two experts not involved in Menzies' care.
Wednesday's opposition said the court should not grant an execution warrant before Menzies' competency is evaluated. When an execution warrant is granted, it outlines the date and method of execution, and the date must be between 30 and 60 days from the date it is issued.
Menzies' attorneys also gave multiple other reasons in the court filing for why they believe the execution warrant should not be granted:
- The Utah Attorney General's Office requested the execution warrant instead of the Salt Lake County District Attorney Office, which is responsible for it.
- An execution warrant should not be issued while a Conviction Review Panel is conducting an investigation into Menzies' sentence following a petition filed in September of 2023.
- Menzies has challenged the method of execution by a firing squad, which is similar to a method found unconstitutional in South Carolina, and the challenge filed in March is still pending in courts. Menzies previously chose the firing squad, which is no longer legal in Utah but was legal when he was sentenced.
Menzies was found guilty of killing Maurine Hunsaker, a mother of three. She was working at a gas station in Kearns in 1986, and called to tell her husband to say she was abducted but believed she would be released. Two days later, her body was found in Big Cottonwood Canyon.
Shortly after Menzies was sentenced, and after the first execution warrant was issued on March 30, 1988, the court put his death sentence on hold pending an appeal. The sentence was affirmed multiple times, including at the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. Most recently, in October the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear his case.
