Nearly a decade after a coworker began poisoning her water bottle at work, Bay Area engineer Rong Yuan still struggles with health problems and can only work part time, while the man responsible has had his felony conviction dismissed.An Alameda County Superior Court judge on Monday granted David Xu ’s petition to dismiss his felony poisoning conviction, as SFGate reports. Alameda County District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson said her office joined Yuan in opposing the petition, but the court granted it anyway.“The court granted the motion over objections,” Dickson said in a statement to ABC 7. “We hope the survivors are able to continue healing, both emotionally and physically from this shocking event.”Dickson's statement also acknowledges Yuan's parents, as they also ingested the contaminated water.Xu's punishment reportedly amounted to a single day in jail and two years of probation, after facing a possible life sentence. Following the expungement, Xu, 41, will not need to disclose the conviction to private employers. Yuan, 50, told SFGate she did not blame the judge, whom she believes was following California law, but questioned why the state allows such convictions to be dismissed. She recently released surveillance footage showing Xu tampering with her water bottle in March 2019 as part of her effort to oppose his petition.Yuan had spent nearly two years experiencing unexplained symptoms, including vomiting and hair loss, and making repeated hospital visits. According to ABC 7, after her mother noticed an unusual smell coming from Yuan’s water bottle, Yuan installed a hidden camera near her desk at Berkeley Engineering and Research, where she and Xu worked.“I never expected that I can capture anybody,” Yuan said, speaking ABC7. “It's a just an engineer's routine. If you have some issue, you think about the root cause.”Per SFGate, the footage showed Xu pouring a substance into Yuan’s bottle and returning to reposition it. Testing identified the substance as cadmium, a toxic, carcinogenic heavy metal, and a water sample reportedly contained cadmium at 3.5 million times the federal level. Yuan and both of her parents subsequently tested positive for cadmium poisoning. Yuan believes her parents were exposed after the family used water from the bottle to prepare food.As SFist reported at the time, Xu was arrested at his Lafayette home in March 2019 and initially faced charges of premeditated attempted murder and two felony counts of poisoning. The case was reportedly resolved in 2023 through a plea agreement in which he pleaded guilty to felony poisoning and received two years of probation without additional jail time.Yuan said she still does not know why Xu targeted her, though she recalled him discouraging her from working in the lab and suggesting she pursue other jobs.“Poisoning is not something like you suddenly got angry and lose control,” Yuan told ABC7. “It's planned.”Yuan, who continues to experience health problems and can only work part time, told the outlet she requested $500,000 in restitution but only received $7,000. She also described the toll on her family, including feeling guilty that the contaminated water made its way into their home. Per ABC7, Yuan's father died of heart failure last year.“I don't think he deserves a second chance,” Yuan said.Previously: Berkeley Engineer Enters Not Guilty Plea In Bizarre Poisoning Case ...read more read less