Key facts
- Charges against Dharmesh Patel for driving his family off a cliff have been dismissed.
- Patel completed a two-year mental health diversion program.
- Prosecutors had argued attempted murder should be excluded from mental health diversion eligibility.
- Patel's wife testified she had forgiven him and did not want him prosecuted.
- Patel surrendered his California medical license in December.
All charges against Dharmesh Patel, a radiologist accused of attempting to kill his family by driving his Tesla off a 250-foot cliff in January 2023, have been dismissed by a San Mateo County judge. The dismissal follows Patel's successful completion of a two-year mental health diversion program.
Prosecutors had charged Patel, 45, with attempted murder after the incident along the Pacific Coast Highway, which miraculously resulted in no fatalities but injured his wife and two young children. A judge had previously ruled that Patel would receive mental health treatment instead of standing trial, citing his defense attorneys' arguments that he was experiencing major depression with hallucinations at the time of the crash and qualified for California's mental health diversion law.
District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe stated that the judge was legally required to dismiss the charges upon completion of the program. Wagstaffe and other California district attorneys had opposed the diversion, advocating for attempted murder to be excluded from such programs and indicating plans to pursue legislative amendments. Patel's attorney, Joshua Bentley, did not immediately comment.
Patel, from Pasadena, was on a family road trip when the crash occurred. He reportedly told a psychiatrist that he was depressed and believed his children, then aged 4 and 7, were at risk of being trafficked. He was released from jail in 2024 to an outpatient treatment program, monitored by a GPS bracelet, and had to surrender his driver's license and passport, with weekly court check-ins.
Patel's wife and children also relocated to the Bay Area, and the court eventually permitted him supervised time with them. His wife testified that she had forgiven him and did not wish for his prosecution, stating their children missed their father. Following the dismissal, Patel joined his wife in the courtroom gallery. The Medical Board of California had previously barred Patel from practicing medicine while the charges were pending, and he surrendered his medical license in December.