Ramos v. Racette

DENNIS JACOBS, Chief Judge:

Ramon Ramos appeals from the judgment of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (Gleeson, J. ) denying his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Charged with first-degree rape, first-degree sodomy, and second-degree burglary in state court, Ramos elected to forgo counsel and to absent himself from the proceedings in protest. Shortly thereafter, the trial judge introduced Ramos’s standby counsel to the jury as his attorney — a mischaracterization that the court attempted to correct by reintroducing him as a “legal advisor.” Ramos argues…