Death Row Inmate's Competency Hearing Delayed Amid Legal Dispute

As of September 6, 2025, the Utah Attorney General's Office is seeking to fast-track the competency proceedings for death row inmate Ralph Leroy Menzies. However, Menzies' attorneys argue that the state is jumping the gun, as the district court currently lacks jurisdiction to consider the state's motions.

Last week, the Utah Supreme Court vacated Menzies' death warrant, ruling that the district court had erred by not allowing him a new competency hearing. The attorney general's office has now filed a motion in the 3rd District Court for expedited competency proceedings, requesting that their experts be allowed to examine Menzies in the coming weeks.

Menzies' attorneys, however, contend that the district court cannot act on these motions yet, as the appellate proceedings remain pending and the court has not yet received the remittitur, or formal return of the case, from the Supreme Court. They accuse the state of "a calculated act of defiance" in filing the motions despite knowing the court lacks jurisdiction.

Menzies, 67, was convicted of kidnapping and murdering Maurine Hunsaker in 1986. After decades of appeals, a judge ruled in June 2025 that Menzies was competent for execution. But his attorneys now say his vascular dementia has progressed to the point that he no longer understands the reasons for his death sentence. The Supreme Court agreed that the district court should have granted a new competency hearing.