The convictions of an Avery County man have been overturned by the North Carolina Court of Appeals this afternoon and he may soon be a free man.  The three-judge panel issued their opinions in the case of Paul Brantley Lewis, convicted in a December 2001 sexual assault and break-in counts after a woman’s home was broken into by two men. The case has been appealed three times since Lewis’ first conviction in 2003 on counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon, felony breaking and entering, and a first degree sexual assault, but the judges found favor with three arguments of the defense in granting the previously-dismissed motion to dismiss all charges for lack of evidence.  With that decision, Lewis could be soon a released from custody.