A new competency hearing has been set for Ralph Leroy Menzies, whose execution by firing squad was put on hold by the Utah Supreme Court.
Third District Judge Matthew Bates set aside Dec. 9 through Dec. 11, and the morning of Dec. 12, if needed, for attorneys to present their arguments as to whether Menzies is competent to be executed. While setting the dates, Bates told attorneys on both sides it was a “hard deadline.”
“We’re going to make those hearings happen,” he said on Wednesday.
Menzies, 62, was a week away from having his death sentence carried out on Sept. 5, when the Utah Supreme Court, in a 5-0 decision, ruled that questions about Menzies’ competency should have been given a second look in district court.
“We hold that Menzies’ petition for reevaluation made a prima facie showing that requires the district court to reevaluate his competency. We reverse the district court’s order denying Menzies’ petition for reevaluation, vacate the warrant of execution and remand to the district court for further proceedings,” the state’s high court stated in its decision.
After the execution by firing squad was put on hold, the Utah Attorney General’s Office filed a motion in 3rd District Court “for expedited competency proceedings” and requested that one of their two experts be allowed to examine Menzies in person next week and the other during the first week of October.
On Tuesday, Menzies’ defense team filed its opposition to the motion.
“While Mr. Menzies agrees that competency proceedings can happen more quickly than they did previously, Mr. Menzies does not agree that the statute gives this court discretion to shorten the statutory evaluation period,” the motion states. “Department of Health and Human Services evaluators should not be rushed when conducting a psychological evaluation where the stakes are literally life and death.
“These reports must be thorough and reliable, so as to reduce the risk that an incompetent defendant will be executed,” Menzies’ attorneys argued in their motion.
Menzies was originally determined to be mentally competent for execution on June 6. But his attorneys claim their client has “advanced vascular disease resulting in dementia, with severe brain atrophy,” and his condition has declined so much since June that it raises a “substantial” question of his current state.
On Wednesday, after working with both sides on their schedules and the schedules of their expert witnesses who will be examining Menzies and testifying as to his condition, Bates set the December court dates.
Before confirming the dates, prosecutors consulted with Matthew Hunsaker, the son of Marine Hunsaker, whom Menzies was convicted of kidnapping and brutally murdering in 1986, about his schedule.
Hunsaker told the judge he would be out of town on those dates and that the whole court process “is taking an adverse effect on myself” and his family. Hunsaker appeared displeased that the hearing couldn’t be held earlier and was being scheduled in December because one of the defense’s witnesses wouldn’t be in the country.
“I have no faith moving forward,” Hunsaker said. “That’s just where it’s at.”
Bates assured Hunsaker that he would move the next competency hearing along as quickly as possible.