Brandon McKenzie, leader of Alabama’s execution team, plays a key role in executions, despite facing allegations of violent behavior. He was sued by Lawrence Phillips, an incarcerated person, who accused McKenzie of inflicting severe injuries during a 2020 incident. Despite the lawsuit, McKenzie was promoted and continues to oversee executions, earning a significant salary. An investigation by Bolts and The Intercept found that other team members involved in executions also have histories of violent behavior or misconduct, according to The Intercept. Bolts and The Intercept were given a list of names of staff members on the execution team from a lawyer who asked not to be named out of fear of retaliation. Together they have independently verified 14 names on the list. Despite their troubling records, staff within the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) remain employed and have even received promotions, raising concerns about the treatment of incarcerated individuals during executions.
ADOC has kept details of how Alabama carries out executions and the people behind them hidden. The state did not release its execution procedures until 2019, when it was ordered to do so by a judge. Even then, it only released a heavily redacted copy of the process the execution team is supposed to follow. State officials still continue to tightly guard records detailing the actors who carry out executions and fight in court against releasing information about their capital punishment practices. The members of Alabama’s execution team are supposed to ensure that death sentences are carried out as outlined in the state’s execution procedure manual by performing a series of tasks. Despite their significant roles, the majority of their activities are performed in secret without witnesses. The secrecy surrounding Alabama’s execution practices exacerbates concerns about accountability. Alabama officials have shown significant impairment in telling the truth that other people observe,” says Robert Dunham, the director of the Death Penalty Policy Project.. “When you have a state that has a history of secrecy and a history about lying about things that other people have seen with their own eyes, that tells you that oversight is critical.”
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