Warning of an ‘endless cycle,’ AG’s office asks court to move quickly in Menzies’ death penalty case

Ralph Menzies appears during his commutation hearing before the parole board at the Utah State Correctional Facility in Salt Lake City as he petitions to stop his execution by firing squad on Friday, Aug. 15, 2025. (Pool photo by Bethany Baker/The Salt Lake Tribune)

The Utah Supreme Court called off the execution of Ralph Menzies last week nearly 40 years after he murdered Maurine Hunsaker, opening the door for more court hearings and evaluations to determine the extent of the 67-year-old’s dementia.  

Now, the Utah Attorney General’s Office is asking the court to move as quickly as possible, warning of an “endless cycle” of petitions pointing to Menzies’ mental decline. 

In a motion filed Wednesday, the attorney general’s office requested Utah’s 3rd District Court expedite future proceedings related to Menzies, who will soon be evaluated by medical professionals to determine whether he still understands why the state is trying to execute him. 

According to Utah code, medical professionals will have at least 60 days to evaluate Menzies, but the attorney general’s office is asking the court to cut that timeline to 30 days.  

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“This is a 39-year-old case on a murder that Menzies committed nearly 40 years ago,” the request reads. “This Court should expedite Menzies’ second round of competency proceedings to prevent an endless cycle of successive competency petitions based on changes in Menzies’ condition.” 

The request comes on the heels of a Friday afternoon ruling from the Utah Supreme Court, which found that Menzies’ attorneys had submitted enough evidence to warrant a second competency evaluation. Competency evaluations are done when a death row inmate shows signs of mental decline — per state and federal law, a death row inmate must understand the reason for their punishment and that their crime was particularly heinous before their execution. 

Menzies was already examined by several doctors and psychologists last year, and was found competent to be executed in June. Then in July, Menzies’ attorneys filed a request for a second evaluation, arguing that his dementia had worsened since the initial reviews. 

That request was denied, but Menzies’ ultimately won his appeal before the Utah Supreme Court, which issued its opinion just a week before his scheduled firing squad execution. 

The high court’s ruling triggers a new set of proceedings, requiring evaluations from at least two Utah Department of Health and Human Services examiners, as well as any other independent examiners commissioned by either the state or Menzies’ attorneys. 

Once a judge issues an order, those examiners have 60 days to submit their reports — once the court receives the reports, a hearing must take place within 15 days. 

Hypothetically, if the judge rules next week, the reports would be due sometime in early November, with the hearing likely scheduled in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving. 

But the attorney general wants to cut that window in half. According to the court filing, the state is asking for a 30-day timeline, and a hearing set five days after the reports are received. 

“As Menzies’ counsel argued to the supreme court, ‘his condition is always changing’ such that ‘it is difficult to keep up with,’” attorneys for the state write. “That all means time is of the essence.”

In separate filings submitted Thursday, the attorney general’s office requested two psychologists — David Thompson, a forensic psychologist, and Ryan Green, a neuropsychologist — to evaluate Menzies. Both men have previously examined Menzies, and found that he did show some signs of mental decline, but was competent.

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