A sidelined Pittsburgh trial court judge may face appeals and recusal motions in the wake of reports of his alleged racist comments made about a juror.

According to CBS affiliate KDKA, Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas Judge Mark Tranquilli referred, in a closed-door meeting with counsel, to a black female juror as "Aunt Jemima" and suggested she had a "baby daddy" who dealt illegal drugs.

Defense attorneys and court watchers told The Legal that those statements could soon lead to a wave of appeals from convictions in cases out of his court.

They also said there could be recusal motions if he is assigned to upcoming criminal trials.

Tranquilli's alleged comments took place in the wake of an acquittal in a drug case, according to the report from the Pittsburgh CBS affiliate.

A memo from attorney Thaddeus Dutkowski, a prosecutor in the narcotics unit, reported the incident to supervisors at the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office on Feb. 3. Dutkowski's memo and a complaint filed to the Judicial Conduct Board by the defense attorney in the case, Joseph Otte, which was obtained by The Legal, both said the incident occurred after Tranquilli appeared upset at the acquittal verdict.

According to the complaint, Tranquilli had first held a private question-and-answer meeting with members of the jury after the verdict, before the two attorneys met the judge in chambers. The complaint said Tranquilli "immediately expressed his disappointment with the jury," before he told Dutkowski that he had not done a good job screening the jury, specifically saying Dutkowski had made a "terrible decision by allowing 'Aunt Jemima' on the jury."

The complaint said the juror Tranquilli was referring to was a young black woman who had worn her hair in a wrap during the trial. According to the complaint, Tranquilli later said he "knows that her 'baby daddy' probably sells heroin and that her presumed bias in favor of heroin dealers had caused or contributed to the not guilty verdict."

Since the alleged exchange became public, the Allegheny County Bar Association and the Pittsburgh chapter of the NAACP have both called for a full investigation into the matter by the Judicial Conduct Board. Tranquilli has also been temporarily barred from presiding over any cases, after Allegheny County President Judge Kim Berkeley Clark assigned the judge to handling administrative duties only in a Feb. 6 order.

In a statement issued Monday, Pennsylvania Bar Association president Anne John also called for an investigation into the comments, and praised Clark for taking prompt action.

"The unbiased and impartial behavior of judges, and their demonstration of respect and equal treatment for all are fundamentals in the judicial process," John said. "Any allegations of racially disparaging comments by a jurist must be fully investigated."

Allegheny County defense lawyers said attorneys have already been fielding calls from defendants whose cases came before Tranquilli, in the hopes that the reports of biased language could provide an opening for an appeal in their case.

"I've had a couple of clients call me already to see what, if anything, they can do because they were in front of him," Pittsburgh defense attorney Anthony Jackson said.

Jackson and others said those appeals would likely be limited to attacking the sentences that Tranquilli handed down, since judges typically play a larger role in sentencing defendants than at almost any other point in the case.

Unlike instances where a key witness, such as a police officer, is found to have questionable credibility, it is much more difficult to attack a conviction using allegations that a judge was racist. The bias, attorneys said, would need to be linked directly to a specific outcome, which is why the appeals would likely focus on Tranquilli's sentences.

However, according to defense attorney and former Lawrence County District Attorney Matthew Mangino, who has not practiced in front of Tranquilli, the defendants may have a tough case to make, given how clear the connection between the alleged bias would need to be.

"Just because a judge said something inappropriate, or allegedly said something inappropriate at some point does not mean that now every case that he tried [in which] the defendant is a minority would somehow be in jeopardy," Mangino said.

Tranquilli's alleged racist comments come little more than two years after he was transferred from the court's criminal bench from its Family Division. Before becoming a judge in 2013, Tranquilli had been a prosecutor with the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office, where he led its homicide unit.

According to several attorneys who have appeared before the judge, many of whom declined to speak on the record, Tranquilli was widely seen as being tough on defendants, often giving speeches from the bench and providing prison sentences for things like DUI and non-violent drug offenses that under other judges would likely have resulted in either probation or a short county jail stint.

Attorneys also said Tranquilli has a reputation for being animated on the bench and not holding back personal opinions, or comments that could seem inappropriate for a judge. One attorney, who declined to be named, noted that behavior included occasionally sighing loudly or rolling his eyes, which appeared to telegraph to the jury that he did not find a witness's testimony credible.

Several attorneys also said they were not surprised that Tranquilli's comments eventually caught the public's attention, but all said they were shocked at the blatantly racist nature of the alleged comments that have surfaced.

"I think it's more of a bias against the defense in general. I wouldn't say race has played a big factor in every incident I've seen," Jackson said. "I think he doesn't like the defense side. It doesn't matter the color or creed."

Jackson said many clients chose to pursue plea deals rather than risk their day in Tranquilli's court.

With Tranquilli now sidelined, attorneys are also left wondering what might be happening with the appeals they already have before the Superior Court. Jackson said he has a case on appeal that is waiting for Tranquilli to enter his opinion with the appeals court, and that, with Tranquilli now barred from handling anything but administrative tasks, that appeal could be in limbo.

"With this situation going on I don't know how long it'll be," Jackson said.

The Judicial Conduct Board's chief counsel said he could not confirm nor deny that the office has received a complaint, or opened an investigation, but regardless of what the disciplinary system may find, there are doubts that Tranquilli will ever be returning to the criminal bench.

Mangino said that, although it will ultimately be up to the JCB to remove the judge, or the president judge to transfer him to another department, the barrage of recusal motions could make a return to the criminal bench unworkable for Tranquilli.

"This may be a recurring theme: 'This guy has made racial comments. My client's a minority. This guy should recuse,'" Mangino said. "That's where you're going to see a flurry of action. Inevitably it's going to be a recurring thing."

Tranquilli's chambers declined to comment for the story.