Fighting hinders jurors in corporate scandal case

The judge in the grand-larceny trial of two former Tyco executives refused to declare a mistrial Friday but let the jurors go home early for the weekend after they reported that they were at each other’s throats.

State Justice Michael Obus did not rule out the possibility of a mistrial later, though.

“We’ll see what happens on Monday,” he told lawyers after sending the jurors home on Day 7 of their deliberations.

Earlier Friday, the jurors specified in a note that they were not a hung jury. But, they said, “We firmly believe that this jury’s ability to communicate and deliberate with an open mind is irreparably compromised.”

Former Tyco chief executive L. Dennis Kozlowski — pictured above Friday with his wife, Karen — and former chief financial officer Mark Swartz, are accused of stealing $600 million from the conglomerate. They could get up to 30 years in prison if convicted of the 32 counts against them.

Economy

Consumers slow pace of spending in February

Consumers, a key force shaping the economic recovery, were more restrained in February, increasing their spending by only 0.2 percent.

The over-the-month increase reported Friday by the Commerce Department came after consumers boosted spending by 0.5 percent in January, according to revised figures. That was slightly stronger than the 0.4 percent first estimated a month ago.

“People are continuing to spend, though they are not breaking down the doors to the malls,” said Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors.

Even though the increase in spending in February fell short of the 0.5 percent rise that economists were forecasting, consumers have been keeping their wallets and pocketbooks sufficiently open to move along the economy’s recovery, analysts say.

Aviation

Boeing shareholders to discuss merger rules

Boeing Co. on Friday disclosed plans to switch to simple majority shareholder voting on merger proposals and other issues instead of requiring 75 percent approval.

Chicago-based Boeing asked its shareholders to approve the proposed change at its annual meeting on May 3, and disclosed the proposal in an update to its annual proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday.

Boeing is the state’s largest private employer with about 12,000 employees at its Wichita plant.

Wall Street

SBC declares dividend

The board of directors of SBC Communications Inc. Friday declared a quarterly dividend of 31.25 cents a share on the company’s common shares. The first-quarter dividend is payable May 3 to stockholders of record at the close of business on April 10.