By Samuel Maull
The Associated Press

NEW YORK - The jury weighing charges against two former Tyco International executives went back to work Monday after the judge rejected a defense request for a mistrial that was based on a furor over one juror apparently holding out for acquittal.

Judge Michael Obus said he had spoken with the juror, a 79-year-old woman who has been identified in several media reports, and determined that she could continue to deliberate properly.

Obus said the juror told him "that nothing that has happened will, from her point of view, prevent her from deliberating in good conscience with the other jurors."

"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," the judge said.

When the jurors returned to the courtroom, Obus told them to let him know "if at any time any of you feel that the deliberations cannot continue properly for whatever reason."

After the latest round of fireworks at the almost six-month trial, the jury resumed its methodical examination of an improper $20 million fee contained in one of top counts, grand larceny, against former Tyco chief executive L. Dennis Kozlowski and former chief financial officer Mark Swartz. The jurors finished deliberating for the day without reaching a verdict and were to continue today.

Juror No. 4 had become the object of intense scrutiny when some news organizations reported that she had made an "OK" gesture directed at the defense while walking to the jury box Friday. The New York Post featured a sketch on its Saturday cover depicting her making a clear "OK" gesture.

It called her "Ms. Trial," a "paranoid socialite" and "batty blueblood." The Wall Street Journal's Web site also identified her by name.

Yet exactly what gesture the juror made, or whether she intended to make a gesture at all, was in dispute.

Defense lawyers said they had not seen the gesture. Prosecutors also told reporters that they hadn't seen it, and the defense claimed prosecutors were aware of it only because they had been alerted by reporters. An Associated Press reporter saw the gesture but did not interpret it as an "OK" sign.

Monday, while sitting in the jury box, the same juror repeatedly brushed at her hair, her fingers crooked. While walking out of the courtroom to resume deliberations, she brushed at her hair again, this time with her hand facing the judge.

Defense lawyer Stephen Kaufman, in his argument for a mistrial Monday, said: "As it was described to us, the alleged gesture looked nothing like what was depicted in the Post." But he added, "Avoiding the front page would have probably been impossible for any juror who left his or her home on Saturday."

He argued that the media - in addition to the other 11 jurors - had put unfair pressure on the juror.

Kaufman also cited media comments by an alternate juror in the case that suggested other jurors were hostile toward juror No. 4, and said, "What was a poisonous atmosphere on Thursday must now be lethal."

Charles Stillman, who represents Swartz, cited a newspaper story in which a reporter went to juror No. 4's building and spoke to a concierge there. While Stillman did not name the paper, that information appeared Monday in The New York Times.

The defendants are accused in 32 counts of looting $600 million from the conglomerate. Prosecutors say they did that by hiding excessive pay packages from the company's board and by selling stock at inflated prices.

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