The Georgia

Court of Appeals has overturned the conviction of a man who was arrested

stop for an expired tag.

The man, Theodore

J. Edgell, was a passenger in the car and the deputy involved found the

marijuana during a pat-down search, said State Court Solicitor Steve Harris.

The deputy said Edgell was acting "real fidgety," and so he

patted the passenger down for his safety.

The court ruled,

however, that since the marijuana was found during the pat-down, it should

have been inadmissable because the search of Edgell's person was illegal.

The traffic

stop began as an investigation into an expired tag, Harris said. When

the deputy decided the vehicle needed to be impounded as required by Georgia

law, he asked Edgell to step out of the vehicle and conducted the pat-down

search.

Edgell was

later convicted of possession of marijuana and sentenced to probation

the marijuana evidence filed by Edgell's attorneys.

The appeals

court ruling doesn't have a dramatic affect on how local police officers

operate, Harris noted.

"It just

means those searches shouldn't be automatic," Harris said.