Raymond J. Barham v. Ronald L. Powell, Etc.

COFFIN, Senior Circuit Judge.

Appellant Raymond Barham was convicted of first degree murder in New Hampshire state court and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He filed a habeas corpus petition in federal court claiming that he was denied his Sixth Amendment right to represent himself because he was allowed insufficient access to a law library and, consequently, was forced to accept representation by counsel for his trial. The district court dismissed the petition largely on the ground that Barham’s problem was of his own making. After careful review of the record…