A California doctor accused of pushing his wife and two children off a cliff in a horrific murder-suicide attempt could be released in a mental health diversion program and have the charges dropped.
Dharmesh Patel, 43, was admitted to a two-year psychiatric program during a hearing in San Mateo court on Thursday and could be released as early as this summer.
Judge Susan Jakubowski said the radiologist was “in everyone’s eyes a kind and loving” father, adding that he would be better off in treatment than in prison, The Mercury News reported.
After Thursday’s verdict, Mr Patel’s family were seen sharing hugs in celebration as they called for him to receive treatment and not be jailed.
“We need him in our lives but it has been more than a year and a half since my children or I have seen or spoken to Dharmesh,” his wife, Neha, said, adding that their son had asked, “When is daddy coming home?”
Patel has been jailed for the past 18 months for allegedly pushing his wife and two young children off a cliff path known as the “Devil’s Slide” on January 2, 2023, while suffering from a mental illness.
He, his wife and their daughter, who was 7 at the time, were seriously injured, and his son, who was 4 at the time, suffered minor injuries.
Patel was charged with three counts of attempted murder in the case, but in May Neha pleaded with the court to allow him to enter a diversion program, saying “we’re not a family without him.”
The diversion program will allow Patel to be released, live with his parents and complete a two-year treatment fellowship in psychiatry at Stanford University, according to the Mercury News.
During this time, he will be barred from contacting his wife and children or practising medicine.
Once Patel completes the two-year program, all charges against him will be dropped.
“He wishes to continue his psychiatric treatment,” Judge Jakubowski said. “I believe the court has realized the importance of him being forthright.”
Patel initially pleaded not guilty, claiming the Tesla had malfunctioned and caused the family to fall off a cliff.
But Patel’s wife told investigators she had suffered from depression before the incident and deliberately vandalized the car, and a psychologist later testified that Patel had suffered from delusions that their children were being abducted by a sex-trafficking ring linked to Jeffrey Epstein.
The exact cause of his mental illness remains unknown.
Clinicians gave him diagnoses ranging from severe depression to schizophrenia, but the court ultimately ruled that whatever illness he had was enough to make him eligible for a diversion program.
The program was introduced in 2018 to target defendants whose crimes may have been motivated by treatable mental illnesses. Serious crimes such as murder do not qualify for the program, but Patel’s attempted murder charge does.
He is due to appear in court for a final release ruling on July 1 and will remain in custody until then.
