Albert Howard appealed after the trial court vacated its earlier grant of an out-of-time appeal and dismissed his motion for a new trial. The Court of Appeals of Georgia reversed that order because the record did not support the trial court’s decision. The court also held that an aggravated-assault conviction based on the same conduct as an aggravated-battery conviction should have merged for sentencing. It therefore vacated the conviction and sentence on that count while leaving the remaining judgment in place.