03/29/94 State Utah V. Ralph Leroy Menzies

Ralph LeRoy Menzies appeals his 1988 jury conviction for capital murder and the trial court's subsequent imposition of the death penalty. Menzies raises numerous claims of error in the guilt and penalty phases of his trial, including (i) failure to remove five jurors for cause; (ii) failure to grant a mistrial following "surprise" testimony; (iii) admission of preliminary hearing testimony of a jailhouse informant; (iv) consideration of a heinousness aggravating circumstance during the penalty phase; (v) admission of victim impact evidence during the penalty phase; and (vi) use of the incorrect standard in sentencing Menzies to death. We affirm the conviction and sentence.