Jeffrey Downs, the attorney who recently lost a civil suit over his scuttled lateral move, may have wanted to focus on allegedly improper jury instructions during a post-trial motion hearing Thursday, but the judge handling the case wanted to discuss Downs' allegations that the judge had played favorites during the trial.

At the hearing, held Thursday morning to address Downs' post-trial motion and the defendant's motion for sanctions, Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Kenneth Powell Jr. and Downs got into a few heated exchanges after Powell asked Downs to address allegations he made in a post-trial motion that Powell had been biased and not impartial.

Occasionally raising his voice, Powell took issue with Downs' characterization of the trial, and disputed the trial had been anything but fair.