Judge Dismisses Domestic Violence Charges Against HMS Professor

A district court judge dismissed the case against a Harvard Medical School professor who was charged with multiple incidents of domestic violence after the victim who reported the attacks did not appear at a trial hearing.

Feng Tian, an assistant professor of neurology at HMS and head of a lab at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, was arrested by the Brookline Police Department in July and pleaded not guilty to multiple charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and assault and battery on a pregnant victim.

The case was moved to a bench trial, which was set to begin on Thursday. At the hearing, Tian’s attorney, Marc A. Brofsky, moved for dismissal in the absence of the victim’s testimony.

David Linton, a Norfolk District Attorney spokesperson, wrote that the victim was “unable to be present in court.”

The judge affirmed the motion to dismiss “without prejudice over the objection of the prosecution,” meaning that prosecutors could refile charges against Tian based on the reported incidents, according to Linton. Linton did not disclose whether the Norfolk DA’s Office intends to continue pursuing charges against Tian.

Two of the counts Tian faced — assault on a family or household member — have a 10-year statute of limitations in Massachusetts, the most of any of Tian’s charges.

Tian’s attorney did not respond to repeated requests for comment on the case’s dismissal.

The charges stem from multiple reported domestic violence incidents, which the victim reported to BPD on July 14.

In a reported April incident, Tian allegedly hit the victim and threatened her with a knife while she was nine months pregnant. The victim further told police that Tian had slapped her before threatening her with the knife. The victim also reported a 2023 incident to police, where she alleged Tian had similarly threatened her with a knife, hit her, and “said they should die together,” according to the police report.

Tian was placed on administrative leave as the head of a neurology lab at BIDMC weeks after pleading not guilty to the charges. In a July 29 filing, Brofsky asked for the pretrial hearing to be moved a month earlier than originally scheduled because Tian “was placed on administrative leave from his job pending the outcome of this case.”

By Aug. 3, Tian had disbanded the central group chat coordinating work in the lab, which employs Harvard graduate and undergraduate students.

A BIDMC spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on the status of Tian’s administrative leave after his charges were dismissed. He is still listed as “on leave” in a Harvard directory.

Tian was released without bail after he entered a not guilty plea, on the condition that he avoid contact with the victim. Tian also had his passport seized by the court as part of the release agreement, and it was returned to him Thursday.

—Staff writer Shawn A. Boehmer can be reached at [email protected] and on Signal at shawnb.18. Follow him on X @ShawnBoehmer.

—Staff writer Claire A. Michal can be reached at [email protected] and on Signal at ClaireMichal.154.