Jurors convicted two former fraternity brothers at Florida A&M University on Friday in the first test of a new state law that makes hazing a felony if it causes serious bodily injury. The victim, Marcus Jones, said he suffered beatings last February during his initiation into Kappa Alpha Psi, abuse that left him with a ruptured eardrum and a blood clot in his buttocks that required surgery to remove.

Five men stood trial in state court, but only two were convicted: Michael Morton, the fraternity chapter’s president at the time; and Jason Harris, a fraternity brother whom Mr. Jones identified as responsible for reviving initiates who had passed out from pain. The court proceedings followed an initial mistrial in which jurors could not agree on the definition of “serious bodily injury.”

This time, the judge declared a mistrial for three defendants. The jury could not determine their level of participation in the initiation rituals, the Tallahassee Democrat reported.

Mr. Morton and Mr. Harris could face up to five years in prison when they are sentenced. Their lawyers, who have argued that the anti-hazing law is inconsistently applied, plan to appeal the convictions. It was not immediately known if the prosecutor planned to retry the other defendants.

A lawyer for Mr. Jones, meanwhile, said the guilty verdicts were an important step. “It sends a message that [hazing] has got to stop,” said Dawn Whitehurst, the lawyer, “and we shouldn’t have to wait until another student dies.”

The 2005 law under which the defendants were charged is named for Chad Meredith, a University of Miami student who drowned in 2001 while pledging a fraternity.