Utah's Supreme Court intervenes to halt the execution of a prisoner with dementia who opted for a lethal firing squad, citing his deteriorating mental condition.
Ralph Leroy Menzies, a 67-year-old Utah prisoner sentenced to death for abducting and killing Maurine Hunsaker in 1986, has had his execution stayed due to a diagnosis of severe dementia. The Utah Supreme Court's decision, issued on July 5, 2023, has caused distress among the family of Maurine Hunsaker.
Menzies, who selected a firing squad as his method of execution decades ago, has developed dementia during his 37 years on death row. This has led to his use of a wheelchair, dependence on oxygen, and an inability to understand why he is facing execution.
The lower court has been instructed by the Utah Supreme Court to reevaluate Menzies' competency. Medical experts have differing opinions on his mental capacity to understand his situation, with some arguing that his dementia has significantly worsened since his last competency evaluation more than a year ago.
This is not the first case where a person received a dementia diagnosis while awaiting execution. In 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the execution of a man with dementia in Alabama. Supreme Court rulings have also barred executions of people with severe mental illness.
Menzies' lawyers have launched a new push to free him of his death sentence, arguing his dementia. The Utah Attorney General's Office has not yet commented on the ruling.
On February 23, 1986, Hunsaker was abducted from a store. Her body was found two days later at a picnic area about 16 miles away in Big Cottonwood Canyon. Hunsaker was strangled and her throat was slashed.
The family of Maurine Hunsaker has asked for privacy. They have expressed their distress over the Utah Supreme Court's decision to halt Menzies' execution.
Utah's last execution was by lethal injection a year ago. Meanwhile, South Carolina executed two prisoners by firing squad earlier this year, marking a rare use of the method in the United States.
The judge who issued the stay of execution for Ralph Leroy Menzies was Judge Harry E. Allen. The case is expected to be closely watched as it progresses through the courts.
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