Marijuana charge against Georgia's Patrick dismissed

Georgia linebacker Natrez Patrick received some good news Thursday, as the district attorney's office in Winder, Ga., dismissed the misdemeanor charges brought against him following his Dec. 3 arrest, Patrick's attorney told Mark Schlabach of ESPN.

Patrick and wide receiver Jayson Stanley were arrested after being pulled over for speeding on their way back from their SEC championship victory against Auburn. Patrick was subsequently charged with possession of less than 1 ounce of marijuana and parking in a prohibited area, according to Seth Emerson of DawgNation.

The linebacker's attorney, William Healan III, told ESPN that Patrick was arrested after officers found a loose leaf of marijuana in the passenger seat - a leaf Healan described as smaller than a penny.

"When you get into someone's car, you're not going to search it to see if there's marijuana in the car," Healan said. "My client didn't know the marijuana was there. If you're sitting on a little piece of marijuana that you didn't know was there, you're not knowingly in possession of it."

The incident marked Patrick's third marijuana-related arrest during his time at Georgia. According to Georgia Athletic Association policies, student-athletes must be dismissed from a team after three drug-related incidents.

A DUI charge against Stanley was dropped after he agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanor possession of marijuana and speeding, the wide receiver's attorney said.