Earlier this month, I posted a thought experiment ('gedanken') about how criminals might use tasers to commit very serious crimes, and get away with significantly less punishment because the authorities defined the taser as non-lethal for their own purposes (and didn't think it all the way through to the unintended consequences). [LINK]
My example (above) was about a hypothetical taser (non)murder.
The following story is about a real-life taser (non)armed robbery.
St. Tammany News (Tuesday, May 27, 2008) - 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. ... [LINK]
I ended with:
Be careful what you wish for - you may actually get it.
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