A California judge has dismissed attempted murder charges against radiologist Dharmesh Patel after he successfully completed a two-year court-approved mental health diversion programme stemming from a 2023 crash in which he drove his family off a coastal cliff.
The ruling ends criminal proceedings against Patel, 45, who had been accused of deliberately driving his Tesla off the 250-foot Devil’s Slide cliff along the Pacific Coast Highway in January 2023, leaving his wife and two young children seriously injured. All four survived the crash.
San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said the court was legally required to dismiss the case after Patel fulfilled all conditions of the mental health treatment programme.
“The judge was required by the law to dismiss the charges,” Wagstaffe said.
Patel was originally charged with attempted murder, but in 2024 a judge ruled that he qualified for California’s mental health diversion law after his lawyers argued he was suffering from episodic major depression accompanied by hallucinations at the time of the incident.
According to prosecutors, Patel told a psychiatrist after his arrest that he believed his children, then aged four and seven, would be kidnapped and trafficked, claims attributed to his deteriorating mental health.
“If the person who’s given mental health diversion follows the treatment plan, there’s nothing that can be done and at the end of the two years he gets it wiped out of his record,” Wagstaffe said.
The district attorney’s office opposed Patel’s eligibility for diversion and has continued to argue that attempted murder cases should be excluded from California’s mental health diversion law.
“We’ll try again in the future. We’re not giving up,” Wagstaffe said.
After being released from custody in 2024, Patel underwent outpatient psychiatric treatment under strict court supervision. He lived with his parents in San Mateo County, wore a GPS monitoring device, surrendered both his driver’s licence and passport, and was required to report to the court weekly.
As treatment progressed, the court permitted Patel to spend time with his wife and children, including taking them on supervised drives.
Patel’s wife also urged the court not to prosecute her husband, telling the court that she had forgiven him and that their children wanted him to return home.
Following Monday’s ruling, Patel embraced his wife in the courtroom before the couple left together, according to local media.
The dismissal of the criminal case does not restore Patel’s medical career. The Medical Board of California had previously suspended him from practising medicine following his arrest, and officials confirmed he surrendered his California medical licence in December.
Erizia Rubyjeana
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