Ryan Sawyer’s 2022 death was a ‘completely avoidable tragedy’: Crown

Alexander Levy’s lawyer made a self-defence argument at a Halifax manslaughter trial.

Ryan Sawyer’s death on Christmas Eve 2022 in Halifax was a “completely avoidable tragedy,” said Crown prosecutor Rob Kennedy.

Both the Crown and defence made closing arguments on Monday at Alexander Pishori Levy’s manslaughter and criminal negligence causing death trial. He’s accused of choking Sawyer to death.

Kennedy said Sawyer, 31, “lost his life due to, in the Crown’s submission, the overzealous, disproportionate and violent actions of Alex Levy.”

Security and cellphone footage that captured parts of the encounter have been entered as exhibits in the case, but one thing the Crown and defence disagree on is how long Levy applied the rear-naked choke to Sawyer.

Levy, a former longtime bouncer at the Halifax Alehouse, testified in his own defence last week that he squeezed Sawyer’s neck for 10-to-15 seconds, but the Crown said it was much longer than that when considering witness testimony and the video footage.

“It’s our view that the chokehold was put on Ryan Sawyer for somewhere closer to two minutes,” Kennedy told reporters outside of court.

Both the Crown and defence each took about 90 minutes to summarize their case to Justice James Chipman.

Self-defence argument

James Giacomantonio, Levy’s lawyer, said Justice Chipman ought to consider a self-defence argument.

“Security personnel, like my client, are in harm’s way every night, with what sounds like minimal training,” he said. “Unfortunately, the police aren’t there to arrest everyone that breaks the law and it falls on people like [Levy] to ensure a safe and orderly bar environment.

“The hold in particular was not a dangerous act, it just caused a catastrophic outcome. [Levy’s] not vengefully holding onto [Sawyer], he’s not trying to hurt him.

“It’s our submission that the tragic death of Ryan Sawyer was not a foreseeable outcome on these facts and on this record. It was a lightning strike. It’s a heart attack while you’re shovelling the driveway. In our respectful submission, it is not culpable homicide.”

He highlighted Levy’s testimony about just wanting to stop Sawyer until the police arrived, and that he’s used the rear-naked chokehold about 100 times before.

“This particular technique was taught to him and employed by him many times to great success,” he said.

He cited testimony from two forensic pathologists, saying “the foreseeability of risk of bodily harm is low” when a choke is applied for 10-to-15 seconds.

“The expected outcome is transient, leaving the person to whom the force is applied asleep for a short period of time and awake again, no worse for wear.”

‘Fit of rage’: Crown

The Crown argued that Levy was not a credible witness.

“He provided a very scripted narrative in his direct examination that was heavily shaken in cross-examination,” Kennedy said. “Nothing that Mr. Levy said should raise any reasonable doubt in this case.”

Outside of the courtroom, Kennedy said it was an “unfortunate decision” by Ryan’s brother, Kyle, to push Levy at the doorway of the bar, after the brothers were escorted outside.

“[That] led Mr. Levy to go into a spiral, to go into a fit of rage and anger, in the Crown’s view,” he said. “I said in [court] his fuse was lit at the point, he was angry. He was hotheaded.

“The purpose, in the Crown’s view, wasn’t to defend himself or anyone else for that matter, it was violence.”

During his closing arguments, Kennedy said even if Justice Chipman finds that Levy’s actions responding to Kyle outside the bar were reasonable, there was a break before the altercation with Ryan Sawyer.

Levy then took a “one-minute hiatus” where Levy went to the sidewalk, called for help on his radio and signalled for another bouncer to call 911.

“After that, any further engagement with the Sawyer brothers was unreasonable,” Kennedy said in court.

He said a bouncer restrained Kyle Sawyer, while another, Gregory White, restrained Ryan, with a second bouncer “right there.”

Giacomantonio argued that instead of taking the opportunity to leave the scene with a friend, Ryan Sawyer chose to “resist” White, who “lost control.”

He said Levy then stepped in.

Up to that point, Ryan Sawyer had not thrown a punch or kick, Kennedy highlighted, nor did he threaten Levy verbally.

‘The aggressor’

Kennedy said Levy was “the aggressor” in this case.

“If anything was going to escalate the situation, it was Mr. Levy jumping on Ryan’s back,” he said. “Greg White didn’t ask for his help, Osman Barrie didn’t ask for his help; [Levy] decided to get on Ryan’s back and then proceeded choking him.

“His actions were over the top and not done for the purpose of defending himself or a third party.”

He said a safer alternative would’ve been for other bouncers to hold Sawyer with their body weight until police arrived.

“It is objectively foreseeable that applying pressure to someone’s neck… for the duration of time that it was applied creates a risk of non-trivial or transitory bodily harm,” he told the judge.

Lack of regulation

While there is no mandated training for bouncers in Nova Scotia, Ryan Sawyer’s family has advocated for change.

Giacomantonio says Sawyer’s family is doing “important work politically” to try to change that.

“Regulations could be a starting place to define a standard, but there weren’t regulations in 2022.”

Regulations were also a point of discussion for the Crown.

“Unfortunately, we live in a province where we lack government regulation around bar security training, and there are limited checks and balances to ensure compliance with the basic safety standards,” Kennedy said. “However, this lack of regulation does not give a green light to bouncers to use excessive force.

“Sadly, it takes tragic cases like this to send a message that this type of behaviour is intolerable in our community. The public demands more from bar security staff.”

Justice Chipman reserved his decision until Nov. 26.

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