TORONTO — Lawyers in the Ernst Zundel deportation case wrangled Wednesday over whether a top Ontario judge who once represented the infamous Holocaust-denier should have to testify at his federal court hearing.

Justice Lauren Marshall was a lawyer for Zundel in the 1980s. On Tuesday, she surprised court by suddenly trying to fight her subpoena to testify.

Zundel's lawyer, Peter Lindsay, told court he wants Marshall's testimony because she is expected to say she had never seen Immigration officials act so quickly to try to deport someone as they did with his client.

"She was dumfounded by the lack of consistency by Immigration," Lindsay said. Lindsay has argued that Zundel has been repeatedly singled out by authorities and that political pressure has been brought to bear in his case.

Marshall has denied she is under any such pressure. Zundel, a 65-year-old native of Germany, is accused of inciting anti-Semitism.

He's being held in a Toronto jail on a controversial anti-terrorism measure known as a security certificate. That measure can be used to deport non-citizens who may pose a national security risk.

A lawyer for B'nai Brith Canada argued Wednesday that the subpoenas for his client, Frank Dimant, the organization's executive president, and others, including Marshall's, are invalid.

Marvin Kurtz argued the subpoenas were issued improperly and without the leave of the court.

He also argued subpoenas are appropriate in trials, not hearings.

"(This case) has virtually none of the attributes of a trial," he said, adding: "If it walks like a hearing and quacks like a hearing, it's a hearing."

Justice Pierre Blais has already indicated he intends to reserve judgment in the attempt to quash the subpoenas.