Courtrooms are normally reserved places where quiet and decorum rule. Yesterday, the Pittsburgh Municipal Courts Building had the ambience of a pro wrestling arena when a sheriff's deputy had to intervene between two trash-talking attorneys who nearly came to blows.

In a brief but testy exchange that included profanity, threats of physical violence and intimations of drunkenness, Deputy District Attorney Mark Tranquilli and Assistant Public Defender James Sheets stood toe to toe, face to angry face.

Their argument played out in front of about 10 relatives and friends of homicide victim Jason Dixon and suspect Florray Arnett before District Judge Rob Wyda asked a deputy to step in.

"They're two good attorneys who let things get out of hand," Wyda said after the hearing. "They were both out of line."

District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. has asked his chief of detectives to open an internal inquiry to determine whether Tranquilli acted professionally. Zappala said that is the protocol when questions arise about an employee's conduct.

"They're standing in my shoes, and I expect them to conduct themselves at the highest professional levels, so it is important," Zappala said, referring to his prosecutors. "There are standing orders -- nobody expresses disrespect to the bench or you don't go in the courtrooms."

Zappala said Tranquilli, who runs the prosecution's homicide unit, contacted his supervisor after the blow-up, saying, "We had an incident."

Chief Public Defender Michael Machen could not be reached for comment.

The dispute began at the end of the hearing after Wyda ordered Arnett held for trial on one count of homicide.

Sheets appealed to Wyda to set bond, considering the circumstances of the fatal shooting of Dixon, 19, on the North Side on April 20, during a domestic dispute.

Sheets said both families believe Arnett shot Dixon by accident and do not want her to do jail time.

"There are children involved. The children need their mother. I've lost a son, but the children still need their mother," Dixon's father, Edward Dixon, 52, of the North Side, said after the hearing.

Tranquilli objected to bond being set. As both sides pleaded their case, Sheets suddenly made an exaggerated gesture before the bench, looking at Tranquilli as he leaned back on one leg and extended his hands, palms up.

"Do you need a minute, Mr. Sheets, to sober up?" Tranquilli asked in response. "Is that what you need?"

"[Expletive] you. [Expletive] you," Sheets shot back.

"Gentlemen, gentlemen," Wyda intoned. "Listen, this is a court of law. You both know each other. Let's not go there. That's enough. My goodness sakes."

With Sheets and Tranquilli staring each other down, Sheets said, "I'm going to knock you the [expletive] out."

"You think so?" Tranquilli asked.

"Deputy," Wyda said, "separate these gentlemen."

The deputy stepped between them. Wyda then denied the request for bond and the hearing was peacefully adjourned.

In an interview after the hearing, Sheets described himself as "passionate." He said he struck his pose because Tranquilli had been gesticulating as Sheets argued his case.

Sheets said public defenders were once referred to as "public pretenders" and he and his colleagues had adopted a tough-minded mentality.

"We're not going to allow the DAs to run roughshod over us," Sheets said.

Sheets said he was "dead sober" during the hearing and objected to Tranquilli's question about sobering up.

"For him to bring that up on the record, knowing that the media's there ... I will kick his ass, physically," Sheets said.

Sheets and senior assistant district attorney Ross Lenhardt said they nearly came to blows with each other last year outside the courtroom of Common Pleas Judge Lawrence J. O'Toole during a trial at the county courthouse. They had to be separated by law enforcement personnel.

O'Toole said he was unaware of any dispute that verged on fisticuffs. When told of yesterday's confrontation, O'Toole said lawyers can be hotheaded at times and noted that disagreements on legal matters can spill out into the hallway. However, O'Toole added that he had never heard such profanity uttered by an attorney in a courtroom

"This is like junior high," O'Toole said. "It's wildly, wildly inappropriate."

President Judge Joseph M. James, a judicial officer for 26 years, concurred.

"For two lawyers to have an exchange like that in open court, in my years, I've never seen anything like that," James said.

According to a Code of Civility adopted by the state Supreme Court in 2000, lawyers should not do anything that "diminishes the dignity or decorum of the courtroom" and should avoid "disparaging personal remarks" and "acrimonious speech or conduct toward opposing counsel."

As well, the code states, they should not talk to opposing counsel in court or "bring the profession into disrepute by making unfounded accusations of impropriety or personal attacks upon counsel and, absent good cause, should not attribute improper motive or conduct to other counsel."