Tyco judge rejects mistrial plea

Dennis Kozlowski's extravagance has caught public attention

The trial of two former executives of US conglomerate Tyco is continuing after the judge turned down a request for mistrial from the defence lawyers.

Judge Michael Obus had paused the high profile trial after two US newspapers reportedly named a disgruntled juror.

With the jury apparently struggling to come to a verdict, the juror in question was reported to be refusing to deliberate any longer.

Mr Obus said he had spoken to the juror in question and the trial would go on.

The judge added that the female juror felt able to continue and the jury's deliberations would resume.

"It seems to me that it would be inappropriate to declare a mistrial when all 12 jurors, who have devoted six months of their lives to this trial, are prepared to continue," said Obus.

Mr Obus rejected the mistrial plea - made on the grounds of media interference - and has sent the jury back for an eighth day of deliberations.

Ex-Tyco chairman Dennis Kozlowski and finance chief Mark Swartz could face decades in jail if convicted. They are accused of taking $600m from Tyco through a mixture of bonuses, loans and financial malpractices.

Jury fury

Judge Michael Obus refused a similar request for a mistrial ruling on Friday.

Instead, he sent the jury home for the weekend after they sent a series of notes saying they were deadlocked.

One note called the atmosphere "poisonous" after nearly a week of deliberations.

Since then, the New York Post and Wall Street Journal have both named a woman juror who reportedly made a supportive hand gesture to the defendants on Friday.

She is being identified as the lone juror whom the jury notes said would not discuss the case further.

The first note said the jury "contends that one member has stopped deliberating in good faith", and spoke of "incendiary accusations".

The lone juror, it said, felt "persecuted".

The second note - apparently from the solo jury member - came 20 minutes later on Thursday, and warned that other members "do not have an open mind as to the possibility of the defendants' innocence".

That suggested that most of the jury were leaning towards a guilty verdict - a view backed up by the third note, which stressed that the dissenter was on his or her own.

Extravagance

The trial centres on accusations that Mr Kozlowski and Mr Swartz stole $170m from Tyco through unauthorised bonuses and abusing loan programmes.

An additional $430m is said to have been illegally made by the pair by inflating the company's share price through hiding the true state of the company's finances.

The notoriety of the case is partly because of the interest in other cases of corporate wrongdoing, such as Enron and WorldCom.

But Mr Kozlowski's profligacy - he spent $6,000 on a shower curtain and $2m on a birthday party for his wife - has also ensured close public attention.

Tyco itself makes $36bn a year in sales of electronics and medical supplies.