‼️ California metallurgist David Xu, who pleaded no contest to poisoning a colleague Rong Yuan, is seeking to have his felony conviction dismissed, years after hidden-camera footage exposed him contaminating her water bottle with toxic heavy metal cadmium ‼️ David Xu, a metallurgist at Berkeley Engineering and Research, spiked his colleague Rong Yuan’s food and water with cadmium — a toxic heavy metal — for nearly 18 months between 2017 and 2019. As Yuan suffered debilitating symptoms, hospital visits and fear of a terminal illness, Xu maintained a deceitful facade, even suggesting her illness was caused by “mold” in the office. His poisoning campaign only unraveled in early 2019 when Yuan set up a hidden camera at her desk, capturing Xu in the act of tampering with her water bottle. The video evidence led to Xu’s arrest in Mar 2019 on charges of attempted murder and poisoning, which also affected Yuan’s parents, who had inadvertently consumed the poisoned water. Xu faced up to life in state prison. After his arrest, Xu was released on $2 million bail. He then received repeated modifications to his home confinement, with his travel restrictions eventually fully lifted, A judge set bail at $2 million, and Xu was released on GPS monitoring. In April, Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed a motion on behalf of the state engineering board, calling Xu “a highly trained and unusually sophisticated criminal defendant” who “used a number of chemicals in his work.” A judge agreed with the AG’s order and barred Xu from practicing under his state engineering licenses during the case. In the ensuing months, the court granted Xu more and more leniency. By July, he was allowed 6 hours out of the house each week to take his daughter to ballet and gymnastics classes. In Oct, he received 6 more hours out of the house on Sundays. In June 2021, he was granted “an additional day with kids.” By Sep, he was allowed an additional 2 hours every day of the week. In Nov, his request to end house arrest was granted. By Apr 2022, he was allowed to travel within the U.S. In Sep 2023, Xu pleaded no contest to a single count of poisoning under a deal offered by prosecutors under Alameda County district attorney Pamela Price, with one year of felony probation and one day of credit for time served. A no-contest plea carries the same weight as a conviction but is not an admission of the underlying facts. Yuan had sought nearly $500,000 in restitution. A judge ordered her paid $7,058, citing a report Xu’s attorney had submitted by a toxicologist who concluded that cadmium poisoning would not cause long-term health effects.  Xu finished his two years of probation in March. On Oct 12, he will ask an Alameda County judge to dismiss his felony conviction — a process commonly referred to as “expungement.” Under state law, a person who completes every condition of probation is entitled to expungement, and California appeals courts have held that judges cannot deny those petitions unless the crime is on a short list of exclusions — poisoning not being one of them. A dismissal would not erase the case; Xu’s record would still show an arrest and conviction to law enforcement, and the conviction could be used against him if he is charged with a new crime. He would also have to disclose it on applications for state licenses.  nypost.com/2026/10/11/us-new… sfstandard.com/2026/10/10/ne… abc7news.com/amp/post/shocki…