‘I knew there was something wrong,’ officer tells Halifax manslaughter trial

A Halifax bouncer is on trial in connection to a death on Christmas Eve 2022.

A Halifax police officer testified he “knew there was something wrong” as soon as he assessed Ryan Sawyer, 31, in the early-morning hours of Christmas Eve in 2022.

Const. Jairus Lamphier was patrolling the bar district in the city’s downtown when he and another officer were dispatched to the Halifax Alehouse for a disturbance at 1:16 a.m. They arrived at 1:17 a.m.

Alexander Pishori Levy, now 40, sat by his lawyers as his trial for charges of manslaughter and criminal negligence causing death began in Nova Scotia Supreme Court on Monday. He has pleaded not guilty.

A security video played at the judge-alone trial shows two men – Ryan Sawyer and his twin brother Kyle – leave the bar.

Kyle told the trial they were asked to leave and escorted out after he bumped into someone inside the bar and spilled his beer on another patron.

He said he exchanged words with a bouncer as he walked out. Ryan Sawyer can be seen then approaching the security staff and separate tussles began – between the brothers and bouncers – but it quickly moves out of frame of the security footage.

Lamphier told Justice James Chipman he felt a “sense of urgency” because Sawyer was not moving while in a chokehold near the curb outside the now-shuttered bar.

He testified that the bouncer and Ryan Sawyer were on the ground, in what he described as a “very peculiar” chokehold position, with Levy underneath Sawyer.

Levy’s forearm was “completely compressed against (Sawyer’s) neck,” Lamphier said.

Levy was “very focused,” and was not paying attention to the officer’s three or four commands to stop, he testified.

“I knew that there was something wrong,” Lamphier testified. “Ryan was not moving; he was completely limp. His arms were to his sides, he wasn’t fighting back, he wasn’t struggling.”

He said Sawyer’s eyes had rolled back, his tongue was sticking out and his face was purple.

“It looked to me like he was unconscious, and he wasn’t breathing. I grew very concerned.”

He told the trial he pulled Levy’s arms off Sawyer and checked for a pulse.

“There was no pulse,” he said.

He told the trial he and another officer began CPR, while he maintained eye contact with Levy.

After paramedics took over Sawyer’s care, Lamphier then obtained security footage from one of the bar’s owners.

During cross-examination, James Giacomantonio, one of Levy’s defence lawyers, alluded to some points of testimony he said were not detailed in Lamphier’s notes.

Those included the position of Levy’s left hand – that he testified was holding the chokehold – and how many verbal commands he gave Levy to let go of Sawyer.

‘The scene was chaos’

Another officer, Const. Stephen Pope, said upon arriving at the Prince Street scene he noticed two people being held down by two bouncers.

One person looked to be actively fighting or resisting, so he went to that altercation first, he said.

“The scene was chaos,” Pope told the trial.

Kyle Sawyer was engaged with another bouncer when Pope arrived. He was arrested but was released without charges.

He said Kyle Sawyer was quite vocal, yelling and screaming, and worked up, but wasn’t fighting.

He described Kyle Sawyer as “highly intoxicated.”

After his release, police drove him to the Halifax Infirmary, where his parents were with Ryan.

Brother’s testimony

On Monday afternoon, Kyle testified at the trial involving his twin brother’s death.

He said he and his brother went to several different bars that night, starting at Durty Nelly’s before heading to a World Junior Hockey Championship game. He told the trial sometime after midnight, the brothers arrived at the Halifax Alehouse with their cousin and her friend.

Their cousin ordered drinks for them, he said, but after making their way upstairs in the packed bar, he bumped into someone and spilled his beer on them.

He testified he exchanged words with that person and pushed them in the head, before being asked to leave.

Ryan Sawyer is shown on security footage exiting the Prince Street door to the bar at 1:12 a.m. Less than a minute later, Kyle can be seen exiting the bar.

But he quickly hands his jacket to Ryan, turns around and engages in a verbal confrontation with a bouncer or two near the doorway.

Ryan then appears to step in and Kyle said a bouncer “said something to my brother” so he pushed Levy.

The chaotic scene unfolded from there.

Then, Kyle said he was held from behind and got punched and kicked in the face before being put in a chokehold.

Kyle testified he had a bouncer’s arm wrapped around his neck and their bodyweight on top of him while on the ground.

“I remember screaming, ‘I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe,’” he said.

“After that, I don’t recall too much of what happened,” Sawyer said, but noted police then showed up.

He said he was diagnosed with a broken nose, torn MCL, meniscus and a fractured kneecap.

Life support

Halifax police Const. Lazar Cado said he arrived at the scene at 1:17 a.m. for “what was described as a brawl.”

He said Levy appeared to be out of breath, as if he had exerted himself in a physical manner.

Cado said another officer was dealing with Levy, so, “My attention immediately went to the male who was lying on the ground.”

He noticed Ryan Sawyer was motionless and wasn’t breathing, with glossy and bloodshot eyes.

He said he doesn’t recall feeling a pulse, but under cross-examination, agreed his notes from the time said he observed a slow, faint pulse.

He and Lamphier began CPR.

He said he eventually drove Kyle Sawyer to the Dartmouth General Hospital for medical care, based on a recommendation from EHS.

After Cado learned Sawyer was to be released, he drove him to the Halifax Infirmary.

He said Kyle, Ryan and their parents were there.

Cado observed a tube in Ryan’s mouth and “a lot of machines connected to him.”

He learned that Ryan was put on life support so his family could see him.

He was present when Ryan was taken off life support, but didn’t recall what time that was.

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