Open this photo in gallery: Alexander Levy, centre, the accused in the manslaughter trial of Ryan Sawyer, leaves Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Halifax on Monday.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
The trial of a former bouncer accused of killing a patron outside a Halifax bar on Christmas Eve of 2022 began Monday with videos shown of the fight that preceded the young man’s death.
Alexander Pishori Levy has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and criminal negligence causing the death of 31-year-old Ryan Sawyer, opting for a judge-only trial in the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia.
With Justice James Chipman presiding, the court heard from several witnesses, including four police officers and Ryan’s twin brother, Kyle Sawyer, who was with him when he died.
The Globe and Mail has reported extensively on Ryan’s death. At the time of the tragedy, security guards employed to keep order in Nova Scotia bars – bouncers – had no training or licensing system in place, unlike in many other provinces.
A law to license and regulate bouncers, which all three political parties in Nova Scotia‘s legislature had voted for more than a decade earlier in response to another such incident, might have prevented Ryan’s death, but that law was never proclaimed or brought into force – the last step in the legislative process.
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The province has since announced plans to mandate all security staff working in bars to have training and background checks.
The video footage and the testimony heard by the court paint a picture of a chaotic and violent brawl, culminating with police officers pumping Ryan’s chest in an attempt to revive him as he lay lifeless, his face purplish-blue, on the street.
Halifax Regional Police Constable Jairus Lamphier testified that when he arrived that night at 1:17 a.m., he saw Mr. Levy in a “peculiar position.”
“It’s not one that I’ve ever seen bar staff do,” Constable Lamphier told the court.
He described Mr. Levy holding Ryan in a strong chokehold while recumbent on the street. The bouncer’s forearm was across Ryan’s neck while his other hand supported the back of his head, the officer added.
“As soon as I approached, I knew that there was something wrong,” Constable Lamphier told the court while answering questions posed by senior Crown attorney Robert Kennedy. “Ryan was not moving, was completely limp.”
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Constable Lamphier said Ryan’s eyes were rolled back into his head, his tongue was swollen and sticking out of his mouth, and his face was purple. He told the court he asked the bouncer to remove his arm multiple times and pulled it off Ryan’s neck. He said he checked for a pulse and, when he found none, he started chest compressions.
Nearby, his partner Constable Steven Pope attended to Ryan’s twin brother, Kyle, who was also being held by a bouncer. Kyle was arrested and released later that morning and brought to the hospital, where Ryan was taken off life support later that day.
The two brothers started the evening having dinner with their parents, Lee and Scott Sawyer, at a nearby tavern. The young men attended a World Junior hockey exhibition game in downtown Halifax, an early Christmas gift from their parents, and then hit the bar circuit, where they met up with a cousin and her friends.
It was after midnight when the group joined a lineup to enter the Alehouse, a late-night tavern on the corner of a steep hill, Kyle Sawyer told the court.
He said he greeted Mr. Levy, saying he remembered him from his university days in Halifax, when he worked as a bouncer at another bar. He said Mr. Levy replied that he didn’t know who he was and used an expletive.
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Kyle told court that he was intoxicated when he arrived at the Alehouse, having had eight to 10 drinks over the course of the evening.
That night the bar was packed. Kyle, holding a glass of beer, bumped into a man and spilled his drink on him.
Kyle said he and the man exchanged words, and Kyle pushed him in the head, according to video footage shown in court.
Minutes later, after the Sawyers and some of their group had settled into a booth, a bouncer approached and told them they had to leave. Ryan exited before Kyle, according to video footage that showed him standing on the street, struggling to find the armholes in his coat.
Kyle argued with the bouncer before exiting the bar onto the street. Outside, he handed his vest to his brother and turned back to the door of the Alehouse where he confronted Mr. Levy, according to the video, which is silent.
Ryan stepped in between his brother and Mr. Levy, and the bouncer put out his hands, “almost suggesting a defensive position,” said defence lawyer James Giacomantonio.
Kyle stepped around his brother. He pushed Mr. Levy, who then punched him in the face. Multiple bouncers grabbed him, holding him on the ground, according to the video. Kyle told the court he recalled saying, “I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe.”
The trial continues on Tuesday.
[SRC] https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-nova-scotia-ex-bouncer-trial-christmas-eve-2022/
