A St. Tammany Parish jury may have set a precedent this week when it comes to charging thieves armed with an electronic stun gun with armed robbery.

Ten out of 12 jurors did not agree Tuesday that such a weapon causes “great bodily harm,” as required under Louisiana law to charge someone with armed robbery.

Pearl River’s Gary Perez, 40, was instead convicted after two hours of jury deliberation with first-degree robbery for the 2005 convenience store hold up, a charge that carries a jail term at least 50 years less than armed robbery. Perez was on trial for a May 25, 2005, robbery of the convenience store on Oak Harbor Boulevard near Slidell where he used the gun to shock a clerk and rob the register of about $200.

Security camera caught the robbery on tape as Perez fled into the nearby Anchorage housing complex. He turned himself in two weeks later at the urging of his family, District Attorney Walter Reed spokesman Rick Wood confirmed.

During the trial, however, prosecutor Bruce Dearing offered statistics that showed deaths do occur when shocked by such a weapon. The jury didn’t buy the argument.

“There’s your dilemma,” Wood said. “In fact the stun guns are advertised as not being lethal, used instead to gain control of a person without being dangerous.”

When asked if the ruling could set a precedent, he said, “possibly.”

Perez faced up to 99 years in prison if convicted of armed robbery. First-degree robbery carries a sentence from three to 40 years.

But because Perez has multiple convictions, he’ll likely get neither sentence. Prosecutors will try him as multiple offender stemming from prior drug possession charges in St. Bernard Parish. If convicted, he’ll face between 27 to 80 years, Wood said.

State Judge William Burras presided over the case and scheduled Perez’s sentencing Aug. 8, Wood said.

“That was a pretty interesting case,” Wood said. “Does the stun gun qualify as a dangerous weapon? We learned a lot.”