"Pushed or poked"

Basically what this story says is lawyers don't handle low level confrontation the way most humans do. Also they take themselves extremely seriously.

Accounts vary as to the intensity of the confrontation between Strasser and Assistant U.S. Attorney Myles Ranier. But Strasser, a former federal prosecutor who was representing accused 39'ers gang member Damian Barnes, either pushed or poked Ranier in the chest.

Few people actually witnessed the incident because it occurred during a break in the trial, when the judge and most of the lawyers involved were out of the courtroom. Deputy U.S. marshals quickly came over to settle things down.

This much is clear: No one was hurt. But the dust-up was significant enough that it got the attention of then-U.S. Attorney Kenneth Polite Jr. and was mentioned in a written document.

“Given that this is a personnel matter, I will decline to comment specifically as to these troubling allegations,” Polite said Tuesday. “With that said, the top priority of any good leader should be to protect, not harm, those under his supervision.”

Oh no! Somebody was "pushed or poked." This was a serious murder and racketeering case.  There were very long prison sentences on the line for the defendants.  God forbid anybody get heated enough to "poke" someone over it.