WEST JORDAN, Utah — The judge overseeing the death penalty case for condemned killer Ralph Menzies told lawyers for the state he will not speed up the newly-ordered competency evaluation.
During a hearing Wednesday, 3rd District Court Judge Matthew Bates said he would not grant a request by the Utah Attorney General's Office to order a faster timeline for mental competency evaluations.
"I’m not inclined to rush them on something like this," the judge said.
But lawyers for Ralph Menzies, the Utah Attorney General's Office and Maurine Hunsaker's family argued over continued delays. The Hunsaker family attorney and lawyers for the state expressed frustration at ongoing delays to execute Menzies when setting a new date for a competency hearing.
Judge Bates scheduled the hearing for early December, saying he wanted the competency evaluations to be completed first.
The Utah Supreme Court blocked Menzies' execution in August, ruling that he is entitled to a new competency evaluation. Menzies' lawyers have argued that he has dementia that continues to worsen and to execute him now would violate the U.S. Constitution.
Menzies was convicted in 1986 of kidnapping and killing Maurine Hunsaker from her job at a Kearns gas station. She'd been taken from her job, tied to a tree in Big Cottonwood Canyon, and her throat was slit. Hunsaker's family has pushed for decades for him to be executed and on Wednesday, her son vented at the judge over continued delays.
"This is taking an adverse affect on myself, my family, my kids, my job," Matt Hunsaker said, noting that it was Menzies' attorneys who were asking for delays.
"I have no faith. I will honest. I will say I have no faith moving forward and that’s where it’s at," Hunsaker added.
"I will move this on quickly and as expediently as I can," Judge Bates replied.
