Attorney Lindsay Layer speaks with Ralph Leroy Menzies after the first day of his competency hearing in 3rd District Court in West Jordan on Monday, Nov 18, 2024. (Pool photo by Rick Egan/The Salt Lake Tribune)
Medical experts commissioned by the state say Utah death row inmate Ralph Menzies is competent enough to be executed — medical experts commissioned by Menzies’ attorneys say he isn’t.
So far, a handful of experts have testified to Menzies’ mental state. But there is still no consensus whether the 65-year-old convicted killer with dementia is competent enough to face execution by firing squad.
Ultimately, 3rd District Court Judge Matthew Bates will decide.
To meet that standard, Menzies must be aware of his impending execution and understand his murder conviction is the reason. Menzies’ attorneys say the requirement goes further — he must make a connection between his crime and the punishment, and understand that his murder of Hunsaker was especially heinous, even in relation to other murders.
Is Ralph Menzies competent enough to face a firing squad? A Utah court will soon decide
Menzies was sentenced to death in 1988 for kidnapping Maurine Hunsaker, who was working at a gas station in Kearns at the time, and taking her up Big Cottonwood Canyon. She was later found tied to a tree with her throat slashed.
As of Wednesday, five medical experts who evaluated Menzies have testified — three neuropsychologists, a neurologist, and a forensic psychologist. And while all agree that Menzies is cognitively impaired in some way, whether they believe he is competent enough to face execution is a different story.
Both Michael Brooks, a forensic psychologist with the Utah Department of Health and Human Services, and Ryan Green, a neuropsychologist contracted by the state, say Menzies is competent. And both were subjected to lengthy cross-examination by Menzies’ attorneys.
Brooks determined Menzies was competent to be executed after evaluating him twice in the last year.
“He understands that an execution is pending, he understands that it’s pending on the charge of murder … he knows that the ‘state wants to kill me because I killed a person and killing people is wrong,’” Brooks told the court on Tuesday.
During his evaluation, Brooks said Menzies told him the wrong date, made mistakes when asked to repeat a sentence, talked about experiencing auditory and visual hallucinations, used “filler words” and vague terms when talking about his case and had a bad headache.
Menzies often forgets to shower, telling Brooks that his fellow inmates were complaining about his body odor. He recalled being sentenced 50 years ago (he was sentenced in 1988, 36 years ago), though he didn’t remember the actual sentencing hearing or the judge’s rationale, and was “struggling” to remember basic details of Maurine Hunsaker. He admitted he gets easily agitated and sometimes forgets what he’s talking about, but doesn’t know why.
When asked why he was facing execution, Menzies would say things like, “I’m not guilty and it’s wrong to kill me,” “because I’m worthless,” or “I don’t know. They say I killed one person. I don’t really think it’s society. I think people just want to make a name for themselves,” according to Brooks’ testimony.
Menzies’ attorney, Eric Zuckerman, said his answers don’t demonstrate an understanding of the two main motivations behind the death penalty — deterrence and retribution. Nor did his answers suggest Menzies understood why his murder of Hunsaker warranted the death penalty.
“He was never, with you, able to express an understanding that his death sentence was related to the severity of the crime, and not just the fact that he committed murder?” Zuckerman asked.
“Correct,” Brooks replied.
But Brooks told the court that the evaluation itself was likely stressful for Menzies, putting him under pressure and impacting his memory and ability to think clearly. When questioned by the state’s attorney, Brooks said Menzies still understood the basic facts surrounding his case.
“He knows all the material facts of the crime and … he knows that he’s going to be killed and why?” asked Andrew Peterson with the Utah Attorney General’s Office, to which Brooks responded, “yes.”
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Green, the neuropsychologist, spent a pair of eight-hour days with Menzies during his evaluation, and like Brooks, reached a similar conclusion.
“The individual has to understand the crime that they committed and the rational connection to the punishment for that crime,” Green said. “I concluded that he was competent.”
During the evaluation, Menzies gave Green a tour of his cell, showed Green his tablet that he uses to manage his finances and listen to the radio, and talked about his prison duties, which include overseeing the laundry room.
“Cognitively speaking, he was a relatively high functioning person,” said Green who, unlike the other medical professionals, did not believe Menzies was suffering from a “major neurocognitive disorder” like vascular dementia. “I didn’t see an inability to engage in activities of daily living,” he said.
Zuckerman, when questioning Green, took issue with that diagnosis — just because Menzies can use his tablet or organize the laundry room doesn’t mean he goes about basic, daily activities without issue. Zuckerman pointed to other reports and testimony from prison staff that suggest Menzies’ cognitive health has been in steady decline.
“He stated that he does not run the laundry machines anymore because he forgot how they work, right?” Zuckerman asked. “Forgetting how to operate or forgetting how to use tools, that was one of those examples for major neurocognitive disorder, right?”
If Menzies is determined to be competent, he could face execution by firing squad sometime in the spring. He will likely be able to appeal his case to the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole, but the competency hearing is the last major hurdle for the state.
In Utah, death row inmates sentenced before May 2004 had a choice between lethal injection and firing squad. For those sentenced after 2004, the default method of execution is lethal injection, unless the necessary drugs are not available.
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