The wife of a California doctor who threw her and her children off a cliff in a failed murder-suicide attempt has begged prosecutors to drop charges.
Dharmesh Patel’s wife spoke for the first time in court since the Jan. 2, 2023, incident in which her husband intentionally drove off a massive cliff on the Pacific Coast Highway south of San Francisco and plunged off the cliff.
His wife, his four-year-old son and his seven-year-old daughter were traveling in the car. They miraculously survived the accident but were seriously injured.
She urged prosecutors to drop criminal charges against her husband on Thursday, calling for his release on the condition that he participate in a mental health diversion program.
“We need him in our lives,” Patel’s wife told the court Thursday, before blaming the accident on “a mental health episode beyond our understanding or control.” Mercury news reported.
Neha Patel (pictured) urged prosecutors to drop criminal charges against her husband, who drove her and their children to the cliff in a failed murder-suicide attempt on January 2, 2023.
Patel’s wife attributed the accident to “a mental health episode beyond comprehension.” Dharmesh Patel (pictured in February 2023) sports an orange jumpsuit in a San Mateo County courtroom.
Patel’s wife said his return will not only “return him to himself, but it will restore the health and well-being of our entire family.”
She also promised that “things will be different” if her husband is allowed to return home to his family.
Patel’s wife said his return will not only “return him to himself, but it will restore the health and well-being of our entire family.”
Emphasizing the importance of his family’s “health and safety,” he said he “will not hesitate to seek help when needed.”
“We need it… we need it in our life,” Patel’s wife added. “We’re not a family without him.”
If the plan is approved, Patel’s care would be in the hands of Stanford psychiatric doctor James Armontrout.
Medical treatment would consist of group and individual therapy sessions, as well as sessions with a psychotherapist.
But San Mateo County prosecutors oppose the request and have filed motions against it.
The Pasadena radiologist’s children, ages four and seven at the time, and his wife Neha Patel, 41, were in the car, and an official said it was an “absolute miracle” that they made it out alive.
Dharmesh Patel, 42, accused of intentionally driving his Tesla off a 250-foot Devil Slide cliff thought he was protecting his family, a psychologist testified.
Expressing the impact of her husband’s absence on her and their children, Patel’s wife said her son asks why “it’s taking so long” for his father to return.
“He wished that Dad would magically appear on St. Patrick’s Day when he saw a rainbow,” she said. “Watching my children suffer emotional pain is one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to endure.”
Calling him a “kind and selfless” man, she said Patel “has been my best friend for over 25 years.”
In April, it was reported that despite Neha’s insistence that her husband had intentionally led their family off a cliff, Patel’s defense lawyer said she did not want her husband to be prosecuted.
The lawyer’s statements were rejected by Wagstaffe, who stated that Neha’s statements after the accident supported the attempted murder charges.
‘He said very simply that this was not an accident. “We believe the evidence establishes the necessary intent to kill,” Wagstaffe told the San Francisco Chronicle.
The remains of the Tesla are shown at the foot of the cliff.
Court records show that Neha, 41, told a California Highway Patrol officer that “he’s a doctor.” He said he was going to jump off the cliff. He left on purpose.
Witnesses backed up that story, saying they didn’t see the car try to stop as it flew off the cliff and tumbled toward a rocky beach.
Patel survived with only minor injuries to his leg and foot, while Neha suffered more serious injuries from the accident.
The couple’s seven-year-old son was seriously injured and their four-year-old son walked away with only bruises. Both children were released from the hospital within a few weeks.
The radiologist initially claimed that he was not at fault and that his Tesla had had tire problems on the day of the accident.
He said he had stopped at gas stations three times to put air in his tires and that the tire pressure light had come on just before he went over the cliff.
In June last year, the doctor was banned from practicing medicine after the medical board called him “an alarming danger to the public.”
In June last year, the doctor was banned from practicing medicine after the medical board called him “an alarming danger to the public.”
Regulators argued the ban was necessary because Patel had “impaired cognitive abilities necessary to safely practice medicine.”
In a statement issued to the Mercury News, the medical board said Patel could not practice “under any circumstances” with the case still open.
“The ban on practicing medicine will continue until the order is modified by the court or the criminal case against him concludes,” the statement reads.
The expert witness called by Patel’s lawyer, Dr. Mark Patterson, told the court that Patel, 42, was experiencing a psychotic episode and feared her two children were victims of sex trafficking before the incident.
“It was paranoid and somewhat delusional thinking that he acted at that time to protect his family from a worse fate,” Patterson told the court.
‘She was concerned that her children were at risk of being kidnapped, possibly for sexual abuse. … There was concern about the fentanyl explosion in this country and the war in Ukraine.’
Patel, who remains in the Redwood City jail, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted murder.
Patterson He diagnosed Patel with major depressive disorder with a single episode of psychotic features and anxious distress after seeing him a dozen times.
The psychologist said Patel’s psychosis peaked in the days before the car accident, adding that he had been hearing footsteps and thought he was being followed.
Patterson said he believes the 42-year-old is qualified to receive treatment under the mental health diversion law, saying, “I see him as someone who is very motivated and willing to receive treatment.”
He stopped having delusions while he was held without bail in the San Mateo County Jail, Patterson testified, adding that he “still feels a lot of remorse.”
