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Salt Lake City — Attorneys for a Utah antheral who's been connected decease enactment for 37 years sought to person a authorities justice Wednesday that the convicted murderer should beryllium spared execution due to the fact that helium has dementia.
Ralph Leroy Menzies appeared astatine the hearing, reports CBS Salt Lake City affiliate KUTV.
Jasmine North, Federal Public Defender Mitigation Investigator, speaks with Ralph Leroy Menzies during his competency proceeding successful Third District Court successful West Jordan, Utah, connected Nov 18, 2024.
Rick Egan / The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, Pool
Menzies was sentenced to dice successful 1988 for the sidesplitting of Maurine Hunsaker, a parent of three. His attorneys said the 67-year-old inmate's dementia is truthful terrible that helium can't recognize wherefore he's facing execution.
If he's deemed competent, Menzies could beryllium the adjacent U.S. captive executed by firing squad aft the method was used connected 2 South Carolina men successful caller weeks: a antheral convicted of sidesplitting his ex-girlfriend's parents successful 2001 and a antheral who killed an disconnected work constabulary serviceman successful 2004.
Medical experts brought successful by prosecutors person said Menzies inactive has the intelligence capableness to recognize his situation, portion those brought successful by the defence said helium doesn't. Prosecutor Daniel Boyer urged the justice Wednesday to determination guardant with the execution.
The proceeding was the past successful Menzies' competency case. Judge Matthew Bates said helium would person a determination wrong the adjacent 60 days.
Lindsey Layer, a lawyer for Menzies, described however the inmate often forgets to renew his medications and tin nary longer bash laundry because, she said, helium has forgotten however washing machines work. She compared his aptitude astatine utilizing a tablet to that of her 3-year-old child.
"I ideate your 3-year-old besides understands that if helium sneaks a cooky retired of the cooky jar, he's going to spell connected clip out," Bates responded. "So it seems similar what you're arguing is that Mr. Menzies' knowing of his impending execution needs to beryllium much than that of a 3-year-old."
Layer agreed.
Menzies isn't the archetypal idiosyncratic to person a dementia diagnosis portion awaiting execution.
The U.S. Supreme Court successful 2019 blocked the execution of a antheral with dementia successful Alabama, ruling Vernon Madison was protected against execution nether a law prohibition against cruel and antithetic punishment. Madison, who killed a constabulary serviceman successful 1985, died successful situation successful 2020.
That lawsuit followed earlier Supreme Court rulings barring executions of radical with terrible intelligence illness. If a suspect cannot recognize wherefore they are dying, the Supreme Court said, past an execution is not carrying retired the retribution that nine is seeking.
"It's not conscionable astir intelligence illness. It tin beryllium besides the effect of encephalon harm oregon changeable oregon dementia - the cardinal question being whether helium has a rational knowing of the reasons helium is being executed," said Robin Maher, enforcement manager of the Death Penalty Information Center.
More than fractional of each prisoners sentenced to decease successful the U.S. walk much than 18 years connected decease row, according to the organization.
Menzies earlier chose a firing squad arsenic his method of execution. Utah decease enactment inmates sentenced earlier May 2004 were fixed a prime betwixt that and lethal injection. For inmates sentenced successful the authorities aft that date, lethal injection is the default method of execution unless the drugs are unavailable.
Since 1977, lone 5 prisoners successful the U.S. person been executed by firing squad. Three were successful Utah, astir precocious successful 2010, and the others successful South Carolina. Only 3 different states - Idaho, Mississippi and Oklahoma - let the execution method.
Hunsaker, a 26-year-old joined parent of three, was abducted by Menzies from the state presumption wherever she worked. She was aboriginal recovered strangled and her pharynx chopped astatine a picnic country successful the Wasatch Mountains of bluish Utah. Menzies had Hunsaker's wallet and respective different belongings erstwhile helium was jailed connected unrelated matters. He was convicted of first-degree execution and different crimes.
Over astir 4 decades, attorneys for Menzies filed aggregate appeals that delayed his decease sentence, which had been scheduled astatine slightest doubly earlier it was pushed back.
Matt Hunsaker, who was 10 years aged erstwhile his parent was killed, testified Wednesday that the ongoing lawsuit has caused his household affectional turmoil. He expressed gratitude that it mightiness yet beryllium implicit soon.
"This has gone connected for decades," helium said. "Thirty-nine years, 2 months and 9 days ago, my ma was murdered. We miss her. We emotion her."
Hunsaker told KUTV there's "kind of a void successful the full family. It's hard to spot that it's the abbreviated 10 years that I had with her and however astonishing and however overmuch she made maine the idiosyncratic that I am."
Hunsaker's grandma attended each proceeding until her death, advocating for justness for her daughter.
"She was a steadfast believer that she wanted him executed for what helium did," Matt Hunsaker remarked to the station. "In her mind, and successful her psyche that was what needed to beryllium done."
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