State v. Coven, 236 Ariz. 393

Coven photographed a court clerk with his iPod in violation of courthouse rules on June 30, 2011.
Coven refused to delete the photograph and became disruptive, delaying proceedings at the clerk’s office.
Arrested after resisting officers; he was handcuffed and escorted from the scene following a struggle.
Following a three-day May 2013 jury trial, Coven was convicted of resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.
The trial court suspended imposition of sentence and placed Coven on concurrent one-year probation for each count.
Coven appealed, challenging the withdrawal of his fourth attorney and the admissibility of iPod evidence.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Was the withdrawal of Coven’s fourth attorney within the court’s discretion?	Coven argues the court failed to adequately inquire into the conflict.	Coven asserts the withdrawal left him without counsel before trial.	No abuse; court accepted avowals and allowed withdrawal.
Did Coven have a right to court-appointed counsel given non-indigence?	State contends Coven was not indigent and thus not entitled to appointed counsel.	Coven contends denial violated right to counsel.	Coven not indigent; no appointment required.
Did Coven implicitly waive the right to counsel by conduct?	Waiver is implied by his actions and failure to obtain replacement counsel.	Coven asserts no explicit waiver occurred.	Implicit waiver supported by sustained self-representation stance and noncompliance.
Was the admission of iPod-derived evidence harmless error?	Evidence aided establishing arrest basis; warrantless search appealed as lawful search incident to arrest.	iPod evidence was improper and prejudicial.	Harmless error; other strong corroborating evidence supported conviction.

State v. Jones, 185 Ariz. 471 (Ariz. 1996) (abuse of discretion standard for withdrawal decisions)
Robinson v. Hotham, 211 Ariz. 165 (Ariz. App. 2005) (de novo review of constitutional rights questions)
State v. Davis, 110 Ariz. 29 (Ariz. 1973) (great weight to counsel’s conflict assertions)
Maricopa Cnty. Pub. Defender’s Office v. Superior Court, 187 Ariz. 162 (Ariz. App. 1996) (confidentiality and withdrawal guidance for counsel)
State v. Hampton, 208 Ariz. 241 (Ariz. 2004) (implicit waiver of right to counsel through conduct)
State v. Schaaf, 169 Ariz. 323 (Ariz. 1991) (non-indigent defendant and appointment considerations)
State v. McLemore, 230 Ariz. 571 (Ariz. App. 2012) (colloquy for waiver of counsel not always required)
State v. Zamora, 202 P.3d 528 (Ariz. App. 2009) (harmless error standard for suppression rulings)
State v. Solano, 930 P.2d 1315 (Ariz. App. 1996) (harmless error review for suppression)
State v. Bible, 858 P.2d 1152 (Ariz. 1993) (standard for harmless error in suppression)