Former Halifax bouncer appeals manslaughter conviction, will seek bail

A former Halifax bar bouncer sentenced last month to four years behind bars for the 2022 death of a patron is appealing his conviction and the prison time handed down, and wants to be granted bail until Nova Scotia’s highest court hears his case.

Lawyers for Alexander Pishori Levy, 40, filed the appeal last week, days after his sentencing in Nova Scotia Supreme Court for manslaughter in the death of Ryan Sawyer, who was placed in a chokehold outside the Halifax Alehouse bar in the early hours of Dec. 24, 2022.

In a written brief seeking bail, defence lawyers James Giacomantonio and Jack Bennet said Justice James Chipman, who convicted Levy last fall, made multiple legal errors, misunderstood or didn’t consider evidence related to self-defence, and came to “unreasonable verdicts.”

“With respect, the errors are legion and Mr. Levy’s detention is not necessary in the public interest,” the lawyers wrote.

“In fact, an objective member of the public would be greatly concerned if Mr. Levy should be incarcerated awaiting an appeal given the plainly untenable mistakes made by the learned trial judge.”

Levy is seeking to be released on bail before the case is heard by the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal. Levy would live under house arrest or curfew with his mother, who would be his surety and is willing to pledge $10,000 or more to secure his release, according to court documents.

A spokesperson for the Public Prosecution Service said Monday they expect the bail application to be heard Thursday, but did not indicate what position the Crown will be taking on whether Levy should be released.

Levy is appealing both his conviction for manslaughter and for criminal negligence causing death. No date has been set for arguments on the appeal.

Levy wants his convictions overturned, and to be either acquitted or sent for a new trial. If the convictions stand, he wants the Appeal Court to replace his four-year prison term with an 18-month conditional sentence.

Levy, who was head of security at the Alehouse on the night Sawyer died, faced trial last fall after pleading not guilty. The trial featured multiple videos that captured parts of what happened, as well as testimony from witnesses.

The court heard Sawyer and his twin brother, Kyle, had been escorted from the bar following some pushing and shoving with another patron. A scuffle with bouncers broke out on the street after Kyle Sawyer shoved Levy.

In convicting Levy of manslaughter, Chipman said he was “overzealous” and concluded he deployed a rear-naked chokehold on Ryan Sawyer for about two minutes. The judge said Sawyer wasn’t a threat, and he rejected that Levy was acting in self-defence.

Levy testified in his own defence, telling the court that Sawyer was trying to scratch and punch him as the two struggled and that he put pressure on his neck for between 10 and 15 seconds, and then relaxed it.

The defence argued the death was not foreseeable. Levy testified he’d placed dozens of people in chokeholds during his career in bar security and viewed it as safe.

Judge’s assessment ‘poisoned’

Levy was found guilty last November of manslaughter and criminal negligence causing death, but the criminal negligence charge was stayed by Chipman due to a rule that prohibits multiple convictions for a single criminal act.

The brief filed last week by Levy’s defence accuses Chipman of over-simplifying the facts and of wrongly concluding that Levy held Sawyer in a chokehold for two minutes. It argues the judge ignored video evidence showing Sawyer “struggling and moving” during the encounter.

The defence lawyers also point to testimony from two pathologists at trial. While it’s expected a person put in a chokehold could temporarily lose consciousness, the brief said, death is an “exceptionally rare occurrence.”

The brief said Chipman’s errors “poisoned” his assessment of the circumstantial evidence.

Levy should be released on bail pending his appeal as he is not a flight risk, the brief said. It noted he followed his release conditions for nearly three years before he was sentenced.

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