KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — UPDATE 5 PM WEDNESDAY: The government has until July 30 to announce whether it'll continue its case against a former University of Tennessee assistant professor and researcher accused of lying about alleged ties to a Chinese university.
U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Varlan put down the order Tuesday in Anming Hu's case, saying federal prosecutors must no later than July 30 "file a status update with the court, regarding whether it intends to pursue a retrial of this case..."
PREVIOUS STORY: Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to give them until the end of the month to reveal whether they'll retry a former University of Tennessee assistant professor and researcher for allegedly hiding his relationship with a Chinese university.
Anming Hu's trial in U.S. District Court in Knoxville ended June 16 after jurors couldn't come to a unanimous decision on counts of wire fraud and making false statements.
In a court filing Monday, the government signaled it would like until July 30 "to allow the U.S. Attorney's Office and the National Security Division of the Department of Justice to thoroughly review the record in the case, consult with other Department of Justice components as appropriate, and to determine whether to pursue a retrial."
On July 6, Hu's lawyer Phil Lomonaco filed a motion asking District Court Judge Thomas Varlan to ask the government what its plans were for his client.
"Professor Hu is still being incarcerated through home detention," Lomonaco wrote.
Hu can't make plans or commit to anything until he knows whether prosecutors will hold another trial, Lomonaco wrote.
The judge himself can weigh in on Hu's fate. In the closing days of the trial, Lomonaco filed a formal motion asking Varlan to dismiss the case.
Varlan has yet to rule.
The fact that jurors couldn't reach a decision last month is a promising sign for the defense.
Lomonaco has scoffed that the federal case is arbitrary, trumped up and political, a vestige of the Trump administration.
Hu was a respected associate professor at the UT Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Biomedical Engineering. He worked on a NASA-related project through UT.
The government said Hu starting in 2016 engaged in a scheme to defraud NASA by hiding his affiliation with Beijing University of Technology in China. Federal law bars NASA from using federal money on projects in collaboration with China or Chinese universities.
Because of Hu, prosecutors said, UT Knoxville falsely certified to NASA it was meeting the requirements of the federal law.
Hu's research included developing nanodevices -- nanoparticles designed with specific functions at the cellular level -- for optoelectronics, energy and environmental applications.