SALT LAKE CITY — Attorneys for a Utah man who has been on death row for 37 years sought to convince a state judge Wednesday that the convicted murderer should be spared execution because he has dementia.
Ralph Leroy Menzies was sentenced to die in 1988 for the killing of Maurine Hunsaker, a mother of three. His attorneys said the 67-year-old inmate's dementia is so severe that he cannot understand why he is facing execution.
If he is deemed competent, Menzies could be the next U.S. prisoner executed by firing squad after the method was used on two South Carolina men in recent weeks: a man convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend's parents in 2001 and a man who killed an off duty police officer in 2004.
Medical experts brought in by prosecutors have said Menzies still has the mental capacity to understand his situation, while those brought in by the defense said he does not. Prosecutor Daniel Boyer urged the judge Wednesday to move forward with the execution.
The hearing was the last in Menzies' competency case. Judge Matthew Bates said he would have a decision within the next 60 days.
Lindsey Layer, a lawyer for Menzies, described how the inmate often forgets to renew his medications and can no longer do laundry because she said he has forgotten how washing machines work. She compared his aptitude at using a tablet to that of her 3-year-old child.
''I imagine your 3-year-old also understands that if he sneaks a cookie out of the cookie jar, he's going to go on time out,'' Bates responded. ''So it seems like what you're arguing is that Mr. Menzies' understanding of his impending execution needs to be more than that of a 3-year-old.''
Layer agreed.