Arthur Robinson was tried by a Muscogee County jury and convicted of burglary.1 He appeals, contending that the court below erred when it denied his motion for mistrial and that he was deprived at trial of the effective assistance of counsel. We find no merit in these contentions and affirm. Viewed in the light most favorable to the judgment below,2 the evidence adduced at trial shows that, on June 22, 2005, the owner of a closed laundry and dry-cleaning business went to the building in which her business was located and heard loud noises inside the building, which sounded like someone striking a metal object with a hammer. She called police, and a responding officer found Robinson and Pamela Johnson inside the building. Robinson was behind a machine, striking metal with a large plumbing wrench. According to the officer, Robinson explained that he was in the building to get “some iron and copper,” and Robinson pointed out three six-to-eight foot pieces of metal pipe he already had broken off. The officer testified that after he arrested Robinson, Robinson admitted that he had entered the same building on three prior occasions to procure iron and copper pipe. The president of a scrap metal recycling business testified at trial that Robinson tried several times to sell scrap metal to him in the Spring of 2005. Robinson also testified, claiming that he and Johnson entered the building to engage in intimate relations and that he was not attempting to steal any metal pipe, but only to use it to bar the door and ensure their privacy.
1. Both Robinson and Johnson were charged with burglary for entering the building that housed the laundry and dry-cleaning business, and Johnson pled guilty to the burglary charge before trial. She did not testify against Robinson at trial, but the prosecuting attorney nevertheless elicited testimony about her guilty plea from the officer who had found Robinson and Johnson in the building: Q: Are you aware that Johnson pled guilty to burglary last week A: Yes, sir, I’m aware. Q: And are you aware that she pled guilty to theft by receiving stolen property Robinson’s lawyer objected and moved for a mistrial. The trial court correctly sustained the objection because Johnson did not testify and, as the State now concedes, evidence of her guilty plea was inadmissible. See Pinckney v. State , 236 Ga. App. 74, 74 1 510 SE2d 923 1999 “In general, a guilty plea of a joint offender is not admissible evidence at the trial of another joint offender.”; see also Sillah v. State , 291 Ga. App. 848, 851 2 663 SE2d 274 2008; Spradley v. State , 276 Ga. App. 842, 842 2 625 SE2d 106 2005. The trial court denied the motion for mistrial, however, and instead gave the following remedial instruction to the jury:
