SALT LAKE CITY — Next week’s firing squad execution of death row inmate Ralph Leroy Menzies will not happen because of a Utah Supreme Court ruling handed down Friday afternoon.

In a 5-0 vote, the state’s high court announced that 3rd District Judge Matthew Bates erred by not allowing Menzies a new competency hearing.

“Menzies’ vascular dementia and its progressive effects call into question whether he remains competent to be executed. We acknowledge that this uncertainty has caused the family of Maurine Hunsaker immense suffering, and it is not our desire to prolong that suffering. But we are bound by the rule of law, and the law dictates that if Menzies makes a prima facie showing a substantial change of circumstances that raises a significant question about his competency to be execute

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