An Alameda County Superior Court judge granted Berkeley scientist David Xu’s petition Monday to dismiss his felony poisoning conviction. Xu had completed two years of probation and served one day in jail.
Xu pleaded no contest to one poisoning count after his 2019 arrest. Berkeley police reported that he had put cadmium in coworker Rong Yuan’s food and water more than once. Yuan’s recordings of Xu putting a substance in her water prompted the criminal investigation.
Yuan said she experienced debilitating symptoms for more than a year, including vomiting and hair loss, and that the poisoning nearly killed her. The dismissal, often called expungement, means Xu no longer has to disclose the conviction to private employers. State law provides for dismissal after all probation conditions are met; poisoning is not among the offenses excluded from that provision.
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