Comment on Suffolk DA protests judge's ruling

BOSTON — The Suffolk district attorney is asking the state's highest court to step in after a district court judge cleared a woman of assault without hearing any evidence and without a prosecutor in the courtroom.Chelsea District Court Judge Benjamin Barnes declared the woman not guilty on June 25. She had been charged with beating up her ex-boyfriend's new girlfriend.Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley asked the Supreme Judicial Court to undo Barnes' ruling, saying there can be no trial when one side is not in the room.