Death penalty expert weighs in on Menzies competency ruling and appeal

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — What will happen next for the convicted killer who has sat on Utah’s death row for 37 years? It’s the question on many minds while his attorneys and the state go back and forth, leaving some to feel that the process is being drawn out.

Ralph Leroy Menzies’ lawyers filed an appeal to the Utah Supreme Court yesterday, asking that his competency be reviewed again after he was ruled competent for execution on Friday, June 6. The state is trying to move forward and schedule a hearing to obtain an execution warrant.

Robin Maher, Executive Director of the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) in Washington, D.C., spoke with ABC4.com about this process. The DPIC does not take a stance on the death penalty itself, but tracks the use of the death penalty and laws — historical and modern — that enforce it.

“Determining competency is such a very complicated issue. It involves questions of both fact and law, and I think it’s important for us to make sure that we understand what’s happening with this individual before we move forward with an execution,” Maher said.

Maher said that Menzies’ attorneys are doing the right thing by filing an appeal. According to Maher, the U.S. Supreme Court has reviewed three cases that raised the question of whether someone with “significant mental impairment” should be executed, and the Supreme Court ruled that they should not be executed in all three cases.

“They look to history. You know, there are some significant historical precedents dating back hundreds of years that really prohibit the execution of people who are insane… people who don’t understand the reasons they’re being executed,” Maher explained. “Historical figures from many, many years ago recognized there’s really futility in executing someone who has no understanding of the reason the state is punishing him.”

Maher said that many of the tests that are done to determine competency can have different expert opinions and conclusions. She emphasized the importance of Menzies’ team filing appeals and ensuring that they’ve done everything they can do before the execution moves forward.

The courts will observe many sources, including observations by prison guards, medical evaluations, hospital visits, and treatment plans, Maher explained. She encouraged a “thoughtful and careful” review of this evidence is necessary before an execution.

“I’ll say that we probably should not move forward with any execution until these questions are put to rest,” she stated. “This is hundreds of years of legal precedent, common law, and legal statutes and findings by our own Supreme Court that say this is not an appropriate thing to do. It is unconstitutional to execute someone who doesn’t understand the reasons for his punishment.”

Maher also pointed out that the conditions on death row — isolation, deprivation, inadequate food and exercise — can also accelerate the aging process and bring on mental illness. Overall, she emphasized that the court should do everything in its power to determine whether or not he is truly competent before an execution.

“This is a question I think we’ll be grappling with in the future,” Maher concluded.

Who is Ralph Menzies?

Ralph Menzies was sentenced to death in 1988 for killing Maurine Hunsaker, a mother of three. She was kidnapped from her job at a convenience store in Kearns in 1986 and later found in Cottonwood Canyon, tied to a tree and with her throat slit.

Over the nearly 40 years he has been on death row, his attorneys have been appealing his sentencing.

Matthew Hunsaker, Maurine Hunsaker’s son, sat down with ABC4 for an interview last week. He shared the devastation he felt after his mother’s murder, but also his fight to get justice.

How many convicts have been executed in Utah?

On Aug. 8, 2024, Taberon Honie was executed by lethal injection. He was the eighth person in the state of Utah to be executed since 1972.

According to the Utah Department of Corrections, three people are currently on Utah’s death row besides Ralph Menzies. They are Troy Kell, Michael Archuleta, and Von Taylor.

Menzies and Kell both selected their method of execution to be a firing squad before the Utah State Legislature eliminated it as an available method in 2004. The law will allow them to keep their selection.

MJ Jewkes contributed to this report.