Jurors seek clarification of Tyco charges
By Samuel Maull
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Jurors have asked a judge to clarify two charges — securities fraud and conspiracy to commit grand larceny and possess stolen property — against former Tyco International executives L. Dennis Kozlowski and Mark Swartz.
Requests to reread explanations of the charges — the final two in the list of 32 counts — came yesterday as the jury ended its 10th day of deliberations. The panel also asked for a "slower" reading of 68 acts that prosecutors say constitute the conspiracy count.
"I think we'll do that in the morning (Thursday)," state Supreme Court Justice Michael Obus said yesterday just before he brought the jurors into the courtroom and dismissed them. The judge then announced that during the day he had denied the defense's latest mistrial motion and sealed the record of the discussion in chambers about it.
That motion was made Tuesday by Charles Stillman, lead lawyer for Swartz's defense team, who referred to "venomous" attacks on juror No. 4 in Internet chat rooms.
Some reporters speculated that juror No. 4 was the panelist who brought deliberations to a halt after deciding that the prosecution had not proved its case.
One note last week described the jury room atmosphere as "poisonous" and said deliberations had been "compromised."
Later Monday, Obus rejected a motion for a mistrial by Stephen Kaufman, one of Kozlowski's lawyers. Kaufman said he was concerned that the juror, apparently holding out for acquittal, might feel coerced to abandon a genuinely held view.
Kozlowski, 57, the former Tyco CEO whose $6,000 shower curtain made him a symbol of end-of-the-millennium corporate greed and excess, and Swartz, 43, the company's former chief financial officer, are accused of looting the company of $600 million.
The two former executives are charged with 32 counts of grand larceny, falsifying business records, conspiracy and violating state business laws by securities fraud. Each could face up to 30 years in prison if convicted.
The defense says all money and benefits received by the defendants was known to internal and external auditors and approved by members of Tyco's board of directors.
Earlier yesterday, jurors asked Obus to clarify three counts related to the prosecution's charge that Kozlowski and Swartz stole $38.5 million from the company by disguising it as forgiven loans.
Prosecutors in the almost six-month trial charge that secretly forgiven loans and multimillion-dollar unauthorized bonus grabs were among the ways Kozlowski and Swartz stole from the company while they were running it.
Jurors made a late request for exhibits related to the testimony of Marian Tse, an outside attorney for Tyco, about whether forgiven loans to Kozlowski and Swartz had to be reported on Tyco's proxy statements as income to the two executives.
