WEST JORDAN, Utah — A judge has denied condemned killer Ralph Leroy Menzies' request for a new competency evaluation.

In a ruling issued Thursday, 3rd District Court Judge Matthew Bates said essentially that not enough has changed to merit a new evaluation. Menzies' attorneys had argued that his dementia had worsened. They wanted new evaluations, arguing it would show he could not be executed under the Eight Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

"The petition thus supports Menzies’s claim that his physical and mental difficulties have worsened over time. But his current difficulties are not substantially different from the difficulties he reported during his initial petition," Judge Bates wrote.

Citing prison phone calls submitted as evidence, Judge Bates said it was not enough.

"Menzies

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