SOMERVILLE, N.J. — Prosecutors informed a judge Friday afternoon that they will retry Jayson Williams for reckless manslaughter, the charge that hung a jury last month during Williams' trial for the shooting of a chauffeur in his mansion.

"The state has decided it wishes to proceed with this case on the mistried count," lead prosecutor Steven Lember told Superior Court Judge Edward Coleman.

Williams, one-time center for the New Jersey Nets, scowled and shook his head at the defense table as the prosecutor announced the move. The judge set a tentative trial date of Jan. 10. Coleman said he wanted to get the trial underway sooner but had to accommodate the packed schedules of defense attorneys Billy Martin and Joseph Hayden Jr.

The lawyers had said they hoped prosecutors would take a cue from the jury, which split eight to four in favor of acquitting Williams of the charge, and not pursue a second trial.

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Reckless manslaughter carries a sentence of five to 10 years in prison.

"We will once again try as vigorous and zealous a case as we can to prove to yet another jury that this was an accident," Martin said after the hearing.

The decision pleased the family of Costas "Gus" Christofi, the van driver shot dead in Williams' master bedroom Feb. 14, 2002.

"I'm glad that they made the right choice," said Andrea Adams, the sister of the 55-year-old chauffeur, as she walked from the courtroom with her son, Chris.

Adams and her family had criticized the verdicts delivered April 30 by the jury, even holding a candlelight vigil on the courthouse steps Thursday night.

In addition to deadlocking on the reckless manslaughter count, the jury acquitted Williams of three other charges, including the most serious, aggravated manslaughter, and convicted him only of four minor counts. Those counts do not carry mandatory prison sentences. The prosecutor urged the judge not to wait to sentence Williams on those counts, but Coleman declined, saying the normal procedure was not to impose a sentence until all counts in the indictment were decided.

Chris Adams said he was disappointed with the decision not to sentence Williams right away. "He going to be out on the street for another eight months," Adams said.

Lember also announced several changes in strategy for prosecutors in the next trial. He told Coleman he planned to file papers requesting the case be moved back to Hunterdon County, where the shooting occurred and where it was to be tried until the defense asked for a change of venue. If the judge denies the request or it proves impossible to pick a fair jury there, Lember said, the prosecution will ask that a jury be brought in from another county.

He also told the judge the prosecution wants instructions for the jury hammered out before the trial begins. The instructions were very controversial in this spring's trial, with some observers saying the judge's explanation of manslaughter pushed the jury toward acquittal.

Two of the jurors from the trial and an alternate were on hand for the hearing Friday. They declined to talk to reporters, but greeted Williams and his wife, Tanya, with smiles and hellos as they entered the courtroom.

Lember did not elaborate on why the prosecution was seeking a retrial. But Lember's office received many calls and letters about the case and according to Lember, they "almost unanimously" urged them not to drop the charge.

Christofi died from a single gunshot wound to his chest Feb. 14, 2002, while tagging along on a tour of Williams' 65-acre estate. Williams was showing guests, including four members of the Harlem Globetrotters, his gun collection when the shotgun fired. Williams did not testify at his trial, but his lawyers insisted the shooting was an accident caused by a malfunction of the gun.