The wife of a California doctor accused of intentionally driving a Tesla off a cliff with her family inside the car last year begged prosecutors to drop the attempted murder charge in court testimony Thursday.
Dharmesh Patel was emotional for the first time in a Redwood City courtroom as his wife Neha Patel recalled the horrific crash and heard their young son ask, “When is daddy coming home?” It is reported that it has become.
“We need him in our lives and it’s been over a year and a half since my children and I have seen or spoken to Dharmesh,” Neha Patel said. According to the San Francisco Chronicle.
“We are not a family without him.”
On January 2, 2023, Dharmesh Patel attempted suicide by falling his family’s Tesla off a 250-foot cliff on a section of the Pacific Coast Highway known as “Devil’s Slide.” He was charged with three counts of attempted murder.
Mr Patel suffered “serious injuries to his lower body”, while Neha Patel and her then seven-year-old daughter were also seriously injured in the tragic crash.
Her son, who was 4 years old at the time, was treated for minor injuries.
He has pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted murder and two counts of attempted murder (injury to his wife and daughter). Patch reported.
Patel had claimed that his Tesla Model Y suffered a tire problem when it fell off a cliff.
But witnesses said the police report ruled out vehicle failure and that Patel’s Tesla showed no signs of slowing down before the accident.
Neha Patel also told the court that it was heartbreaking every time her children experienced a birthday or holiday without their father.
“When is Daddy coming home? It takes so long, I miss him,” she recalled her son, now 5, telling her.
The paper said a psychologist testified last week that Dharmesh Patel suffered from mental illness and had delusions that his children had been abducted and sexually abused before the accident. Orange County Register.
The paper added that this paranoia was also caused by the domestic fentanyl crisis and the war in Ukraine.
Dharmesh Patel, a radiologist at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Los Angeles, wants to qualify for a two-year mental health diversion program instead of facing a trial that could result in a life sentence. There is.
During the hearing, psychologist Mark Patterson said the father was a “very motivated” candidate for the program and “commendable to treatment.”
Last year, Neha Patel pleaded with authorities not to prosecute her father, telling investigators that he was suicidal and intentionally swerved off the road.
“He is depressed. He is the doctor. He said he was going to drive off the cliff. He drove away deliberately,” Neha told rescuers at the time.
However, Neha Patel later claimed in testimony Thursday that her husband “never had a seizure” in the 25 years they had been together, according to the SF Chronicle.
“Now that we understand and know that he has a treatable condition, things will be different,” she said. “We want members of the court to know that the health and safety of their families is of paramount importance.”
In 2018, California introduced a pretrial diversion program for defendants diagnosed with mental disorders.
If Patel undergoes treatment and completes the two-year program, his criminal charges will be dismissed and his arrest record will be expunged.
