SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — A newly-filed mental competency evaluation from the Utah Department of Health and Human Services concludes that Ralph Menzies, a man sentenced to death, is not competent to be executed, raising significant constitutional concerns over whether the state can lawfully carry out the punishment.
The state-appointed evaluator, Dr. Michael Brooks, found that Menzies’ advanced dementia has severely damaged his ability to understand the State’s rationale for his punishment or even the basic facts of his case.
The report states that Menzies “lacks a rational understanding that he is to be executed for the crime of murder, as he does not understand the State’s rationale for levying his punishment in general or to him in particular.”
According to the evaluation, Menzies can no longer identify the crime he was convicted of, the identity of the victim, the acts attributed to him, or the capital nature of his sentence.
The findings also show cognitive decline so severe that Menzies is unaware of how the State intends to carry out his execution. Dr. Brooks concluded that Menzies is not competent for execution and is unlikely ever to be restored.
These conclusions mark a significant departure from Dr. Brooks’ earlier assessments. In November 2024, he testified that Menzies understood he was going to be executed because he “killed a person and killing people is wrong.” His recent evaluation reflects rapid and profound mental deterioration.
Concerns about Menzies’ competency have been central to ongoing litigation. In September 2025, the Utah Supreme Court unanimously stayed the execution just one week before it was set to occur, citing “serious and significant questions” about whether he could rationally understand his punishment.
His legal team argues that executing a person with severe dementia would violate the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. They are asking the court to order a new competency review.
A competency hearing is scheduled over several days in December 2025 before Judge Matthew Bates, who will review the new evaluation and additional evidence.
Executing individuals who cannot rationally understand the reason for their execution is unconstitutional under U.S. Supreme Court precedent. In Ford v. Wainwright (1986), the Court held that a person must be aware of their impending execution and the reason for it. In Panetti v. Quarterman (2007), the Court ruled that this awareness must be rational. In Madison v. Alabama (2019), the Court confirmed that dementia can render a person incompetent for execution.
Menzies was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1986 murder of Maurine Hunsaker. His execution had been scheduled for Sept. 5, 2025, which would have been Utah’s fourth execution by firing squad.
Utah’s most recent execution occurred in August 2024, ending a 14-year gap since the 2010 firing-squad execution of Ronnie Lee Gardner.
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