tion of the right to a fair trial.” (Citations and punctuation omitted.) Rafi v.

State, 289 Ga. 716, 720 (4) (715 SE2d 113) (2011).



                                            5
      During his opening argument, trial counsel had argued that the phone records

were inaccurate and inconsistent with the other evidence, such as the 911 cal1, which

showed that the perpetrator was inside the house about an hour later. On the evening

of the first day of trial, the prosecutor alerted Pinkney’s trial counsel that the records

of Pinkney’s text messages, which had previously been disclosed by the State, were

in Central Standard Time, not in Eastern Standard Time, as trial counsel had

originally assumed. Pinkney moved to prohibit the State from relying on the correct

time of the calls or, in the alternative, for a mistrial. The trial court denied both

motions.

      At trial, an investigator with Pinkney’s cell phone carrier testified regarding

both Pinkney’s and his girlfriend’s cell phone records, including their text messages.

The cell phone records confirmed that on December 31, 2011 between 10:00 p.m. and

11:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, calls made from Pinkney’s cell phone had gone

through the cell tower nearest the victims’ home. The investigator also explained that

Pinkney’s carrier stored its customers’ text messages in Texas and, accordingly, the

text message records were kept in Central Standard Time. The records of the phone

calls, however, were in Eastern Standard Time.



                                            6
      We cannot determine from the record what, exactly, defense counsel argued to

the jury since the opening statements were not transcribed. Nonetheless, a mistrial

was not essential to the preservation of Pinkney’s right to a fair trial since the

investigator’s testimony corrected trial counsel’s misstatement during opening

argument, and the trial court instructed the jury that counsels’ opening and closing

arguments were not evidence. Cf.