By Samuel Maull
The Associated Press

NEW YORK - Jurors in the Tyco International corruption trial told the judge Thursday that deliberations have turned poisonous and threatened the outcome of the five-month trial. He refused to call a mistrial and gave them the night to cool off.

One or more jurors "does not have an open mind," they said in one of three notes sent to Supreme Court Justice Michael Obus. "The disagreement is so intense that it has resulted in very bad acrimony. Perhaps this jury cannot continue. What shall we do?"

"The atmosphere in the jury room has turned poisonous," the jurors said.

The messages prompted a motion for a mistrial by the defense. "We believe our right to a fair trial no longer exists," said defense attorney Austin Campriello, representing former Tyco chief executive L. Dennis Kozlowski.

Obus denied the motion, then told the jury to go home, relax and return today.

In dismissing the jurors for the day, the judge said he was concerned about some of the content of the notes. "It is important as a personal matter that you all continue to respect each other's opinion," he said.

The notes portrayed a jury in danger of imploding, divided by insults and hard feelings.

Jurors sat through five months of testimony before deliberations in the case against Kozlowski and former Tyco chief financial officer Mark Swartz even began.

The notes came seemingly out of the blue. Earlier, the jurors had asked the court to "indulge us with more time" before they returned to the courtroom to hear a readback of testimony.

Swartz, 43, and Kozlowski, 57, are charged with 32 counts of grand larceny, falsifying business records and violating state business laws. They each could face up to 30 years in prison if convicted. The two allegedly took unauthorized bonuses and abused company loan programs and used the money to finance lavish lifestyles.

The defense argued that the two men earned every dime and that the board of directors and the company's auditors knew about the compensation and never objected.