Menzies should die by terminal illness, not firing squad, his attorneys argue

Attorneys for death row inmate Ralph Leroy Menzies say one way or another, their client will die in prison.

But attorney Eric Zuckerman says the Board of Pardons and Parole should allow Menzies “to die from his terminal illness and not by firing squad.”

“Mr Menzies will die in this prison,” he told the board. The question is whether he will die from his terminal vascular dementia, “or whether the state of Utah will hasten his death by shooting him.”

On Wednesday, the 2½-day commutation hearing for Menzies got started at the Utah State Prison. At stake is whether the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole will change Menzies’s death sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Menzies, 67, is scheduled to be executed by firing squad early on the morning of Sept. 5.

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