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Berkeley coworker David Xu avoids prison after poisoning colleague with cadmium

David Xu, arrested in 2019 for poisoning a Berkeley coworker, received probation and about 10 days in jail under a plea deal. He is now seeking to have the felony expunged, and right-leaning outlets criticise the leniency.

2 outlets · 0L · 0C · 2R First reported Account updated
Image: Hot Air
Image: Washington Examiner

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The story, neutrally told

Right · 1Rong Yuan, who worked at the Berkeley engineering firm Berkeley Engineering and Research, became suddenly and inexplicably ill in 2017 and stayed sick for about two years despite several hospital visits. Right · 1Suspecting something was wrong, she bought a spy camera online and hid it near her office desk; the footage led to a diagnosis and to the March 2019 arrest of her coworker David Xu on charges of attempted murder and poisoning. Right · 1According to a Berkeley Police Department report cited by Hot Air, Xu put cadmium, a toxic heavy metal, into Yuan's food and water on multiple occasions over more than a year.

Right · 1Xu faced up to life in state prison, but then-District Attorney Pamela Price offered a plea deal of one count of poisoning and one year of probation. Right · 1At the 2024 sentencing, the judge called the deal "extremely generous, considering everything in this case" and doubled probation to two years; the probation officer had recommended no jail time, citing Xu's education, stable job, family and lack of prior offences. Right · 2Hot Air says Xu spent about 10 days in jail in total, while the Washington Examiner headline says attempted murder was worth one day in jail; the two outlets give different figures.

Right · 1Xu is now asking an Alameda County court to dismiss the felony count from his record. The district attorney's office has objected, but according to Hot Air California law requires the judge to grant dismissal if all probation conditions were met; the hearing was set for Monday at 9 a.m. in Department 109 of Alameda County Superior Court, and Hot Air could find no report of the outcome. Right · 1Yuan has spoken publicly for the first time and released the video that began the case.

Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.

Left0 outlets

No left outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.

Centre0 outlets

No centre outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.

Right2 outlets

Framing
Both outlets present the case as an example of California's lenient criminal justice system; Hot Air blames the former DA's policies and the Examiner calls the system backward and incoherent.
Emphasis
The gap between the charge (attempted murder, possible life sentence) and the outcome (probation, days in jail), and the pending expungement.
Leaves out or plays down
No left or centre outlet covered it. The coverage gives no account from Xu, his lawyers, or Price's office on why the plea was offered, and no outcome of the expungement hearing.
Charged language
“Soros-backed prosecutor”“ridiculous, woke DA”“sweetheart deal”“backward, incoherent nature of the criminal “justice” system”
For example
“But that's what happens when you elect a ridiculous, woke DA like Pamela Price.” — Hot Air
“There is nothing quite like the backward, incoherent nature of the criminal “justice” system in California.” — Washington Examiner

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