SOMERVILLE, N.J. — A jury cleared Jayson Williams Friday afternoon of aggravated manslaughter in the shooting of a chauffeur at his mansion, but convicted him of trying to cover up the man's death as a suicide.

The panel, which deliberated 23 hours over four days, was not able to reach a verdict on the second most serious charge, reckless manslaughter. According to one juror, the panel was split 8 to 4 in favor of acquitting the retired NBA star on that count.

The jury acquitted him on charges of aggravated assault and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.

Although mixed, the verdict was a victory for Williams. The four counts of which he was convicted, witness tampering, evidence tampering, hindering apprehension and fabricating evidence, are relatively minor. Together, they carry a possible sentence of 13 years in prison, but because the millionaire athlete does not have a criminal record, he is not likely to see any time behind bars.

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If convicted of all counts, he could have faced 55 years in prison.

Prosecutors have the option of retrying the one-time All-Star on the reckless manslaughter count, which carries 5 to 10 years in prison. But outside court, defense lawyers said they hoped the prosecutors would take a cue from the acquittals on aggravated manslaughter, gun possession and aggravated assault and not seek another trial.

"This jury has rendered a very powerful voice with what this community should do about a retrial," said defense lawyer Billy Martin.

Juror Shalisha Martin, one of the panelists who voted to acquit Williams on all but the cover-up charges, said most of the jurors believed the death of driver Costas "Gus" Christofi was simply an accident and not so reckless as to constitute a criminal behavior.

"It was an accident. I don't think he intended on shooting this man," said Martin, echoing a mantra of the defense during the trial.

Prosecutors were not required to prove intent to win a conviction on the manslaughter counts, but they did have to prove Williams' actions rose above negligence to the level of recklessness and in the case of aggravated manslaughter, that the shooting demonstrated an indifference to the value of human life.

As the foreman announced the verdict, the 6-foot-10 Williams was stonefaced, but some of his supporters in the crowded gallery whooped with joy and stomped their feet, prompting the judge to temporarily halt the reading and admonish them.

Williams whispered "thank you" to the jurors as they filed out of the jury box and then leaned over the courtroom rail and kissed his wife, Tanya, a lawyer who delivered their second child near the close of the three-month trial.

The couple quickly left the court complex in their white Mercedes SUV.

"You can't imagine how excited Jayson and his wife, Tanya, are right now and we hope we can all find a place to feel the joy right now," said defense lawyer Billy Martin at a press conference on the courthouse steps.

One young female juror cried as the verdicts were read.

Juror Martin said the deliberations were often hostile and tense.

"It was very divided in there. We were trying because we felt we owed it to Gus, but we couldn't," she said.

The deliberations became so bitter Friday afternoon that one of the panelists sent a note from the jury room reading, "Juror #5 is upset and wants to speak to the judge." The woman was escorted to the judge's chambers. Twenty minutes later, she returned to the jury room and shortly thereafter, the panelists sent a note saying they wished to announce a partial verdict.

During the reading of the verdict, the woman wore dark glasses and looked grim.

Prosecutors Steven Lember and Katharine Errickson were stoic as they heard each of three "not guilty" verdicts. Behind them, in the front row of the courtroom, Christofi's sister, Andrea Adams, wept. The family settled a civil suit against Williams for a reported $2.75 million.

After Williams and his wife strode out of court, Adams remained in the her seat crying. The prosecutors hugged her and Lember told her, "We will talk," perhaps referencing the future of the case.

Williams is due back in court May 21 to set a schedule for a new trial on reckless manslaughter. The prosecutors said no decision has been made on whether they will retry Williams. He will not be sentenced on the other charges until that count has been resolved.

The verdict highlights problems with the case against Williams. Martin said the panelists completely disregarded the testimony of Williams' former NBA teammate, Benoit Benjamin. Benjamin was the most damning of the prosecution's witnesses, telling jurors that Williams cursed at Christofi before the shooting, pointed the gun at him and then flipped it up while pulling the trigger.

Juror Martin said no one found his testimony believable.

She said that, in particular, she found compelling the testimony of houseguests Chris Morris and Howard Paul Gaffney, members of the Harlem Globetrotters. Both men testified that they were talking about sneakers with Williams as the shooting happened. That, she said, appeared to contradict accounts from Benjamin and another guest, Kent Culuko, that Williams was menacing the driver.

The panelists had indicated Thursday that they were split on two charges. In addition to reckless manslaughter, the jurors were split on the third count, possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose. The question they grappled with, according to Martin, was "Was he actually pointing it or was he actually simply just closing it?"

Ultimately, they were able to agree that Williams had merely been flicking the shotgun closed when it discharged.

Williams, 36, shot Christofi on Feb. 14, 2002, while giving houseguests a midnight tour of his sprawling Hunterdon County estate after a night out.

According to witnesses who testified at the trial, Williams was showing the guests around his master bedroom when he grabbed a shotgun from his gun cabinet, cracked it open and then jerked it shut with a flick of his wrist. As the gun closed, it fired, striking Christofi in the chest, witnesses said.

Williams did not testify at his trial, but two ballistics experts said the 12-gauge Browning Citori shotgun could have malfunctioned because of debris in its inner mechanisms and his lawyers told the jury that he never even saw Christofi, let alone targeted him.

The trial stretched almost three months and included the testimony of 43 witnesses. Williams was an All-Star center who held an $86 million contract with the New Jersey Nets before suffering a career-ending injury in 1999.

Asked if Williams still had any guns at his 65-acre estate, one of his attorneys noted that the guns he had that night were still in the courtroom where they had been used as evidence.