A Berkeley metallurgist convicted of poisoning a coworker with cadmium is asking an Alameda County judge to dismiss his felony conviction now that he has completed probation.
David Xu, who holds a doctorate and worked at the Berkeley forensic engineering firm Berkeley Engineering and Research, was accused of putting cadmium, a toxic heavy metal, into the food and water of fellow metallurgist Rong Yuan over roughly 18 months between 2017 and 2019. He was arrested in 2019 on charges of attempted murder and poisoning after Yuan installed a hidden camera at her desk.
Xu was released after posting $2 million bail and was placed under home confinement, conditions that were later loosened and eventually lifted. In 2023, then-Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price’s office reached a plea deal dropping the attempted murder charge. Xu, who faced up to life in prison, pleaded no contest to a single count of poisoning. He was sentenced to two years’ probation and credited with just one day served in jail.
Xu completed probation in March. Under California’s expungement statute, a defendant who meets all probation conditions is entitled to have the conviction dismissed. His petition was heard Monday morning in Alameda County Superior Court.
What Yuan says she endured
Yuan has described a years-long ordeal of unexplained illness: recurring vomiting, dry heaves, hair loss, and a persistent sour taste in her mouth that sent her to the emergency room multiple times. “I began to feel like I was dying,” she said. By late 2018, her symptoms worsened and she missed work repeatedly.
Yuan said her breaking point came in 2019, when her mother, who had traveled from China to help care for her, drank from the same water bottle and also noticed the sour taste. That prompted Yuan to install the hidden camera that ultimately captured the poisoning on video.
“My blood was frozen. I almost died. I experienced death so, so close so many times. I cannot let him go.”
Yuan initially sought nearly $500,000 in restitution but was awarded $7,058, based on a toxicology report concluding the poisoning would not cause long-term health effects. Yuan disputes that finding, saying she continues to suffer lasting effects and is unable to work full time.
Her central concern now is that an expunged conviction would not appear on background checks run by future employers.
“This legal system already failed me. This is my last resort.”
The case remains before Alameda County Superior Court, where Xu’s petition for dismissal was taken up this week.
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