SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - The Utah Supreme Court has reopened an appeal from a death row inmate, saying his lawyer provided "deplorable" representation that shortchanged the convicted man.

In a 54-page opinion issued Friday, justices cited numerous failures by lawyer Ed Brass in his appeal of the conviction and sentence of Ralph Leroy Menzies.

In 1988, Menzies was convicted of the 1986 murder of Maurine Hunsaker, a gas station clerk who was kidnapped from her job and later found in Big Cottonwood Canyon. The 26-year-old mother of three had been strangled and her throat slit.

Brass was court-appointed to the case in 1993 and withdrew from it in 2003.

In its unanimous decision, court justices rejected an argument from state prosecutors that Menzies should be held accountable for Brass' failures.

The ruling will allow Menzies to argue for a new trial or a new sentencing hearing which could take him off death row.

"To say that Brass did little to represent Menzies during this five-and-a-half year period would be an understatement," justices said in the ruling. "In fact, Brass' representation in this case was deplorable. Our review of the record indicates that Brass not only failed to provide Menzies with any meaningful representation, but in fact willfully disregarded nearly every aspect of the case."

Brass is a prominent Salt Lake City defense attorney, who has often represented clients in capital cases.

Contacted by The Associated Press Saturday Brass declined to comment.

The court found Brass communicated sparingly with Menzies, refused to take the inmate's phone calls and didn't investigate a possible alibi. Court filing deadlines were also missed and Brass waited a year to tell his client that a trial judge had dismissed one request for a new trial.

The decision will send the case back to 3rd District Court for a judge to consider Menzies' petition for post-conviction relief, could set the legal proceedings in the case back by years, state prosecutors said.

"It's extremely disappointing," said Thomas Brunker, assistant Utah attorney general.

The victim's son, Matt Hunsaker, said the decision is a disappointment to his family, which wants to see Menzies executed for his crime.

"This is a huge blow, especially at this time of year," Hunsaker said. "To add insult to injury, we don't have my mom with us, and now,'Merry Christmas' you guys just gave us one of the biggest blows in the case yet."

Four of the five justices who concurred with the reasoning in the ruling written by Chief Justice Christine Durham. The Chief Justice said there is a general policy favoring the finality of judgments, including death sentences, but that finality doesn't have a higher value than constitutional protections.