David Xu was arrested in 2019 after hidden-camera footage captured him pouring cadmium into a coworker’s water bottle at a Berkeley engineering firm, ending an 18-month campaign that left the victim and her parents with severe cadmium toxicity. Rong Yuan had endured prolonged health problems from the repeated poisoning of her food and water before the video evidence finally led to Xu’s capture. Originally charged with attempted murder and two counts of poisoning that carried the threat of life in prison, Xu accepted a plea deal reducing the case to a single felony poisoning conviction. In 2023 he received two years of probation and credit for just one day served. On October 12, 2026, a judge granted his request to dismiss the conviction despite strong objections from prosecutors. Yuan, who continues to suffer lasting health effects and cannot work full time, has publicly condemned the outcome as a failure of justice.

The surveillance video that sealed Xu’s original case shows him deliberately tampering with the bottle in the workplace, providing clear visual proof of the act that nearly destroyed his colleague’s life. After completing probation in March 2026, Xu petitioned the court under California law to clear the felony from his record, a move that has now succeeded. The decision has reignited public debate over whether such a lenient path adequately accounts for the deliberate and prolonged nature of the poisoning. Yuan has spoken out against the expungement, arguing that it erases meaningful accountability for the harm she and her family still endure. Prosecutors had opposed the dismissal, yet the court moved forward once the probation term was finished. The case leaves many questioning how a crime that began with life-in-prison exposure could end with a cleared record and the victim left struggling with permanent consequences.