The spouse of the California physician accused of deliberately driving a Tesla off a cliff along with his household inside final yr begged prosecutors to drop his tried homicide fees throughout courtroom testimony Thursday.
Dharmesh Patel was reportedly emotional as he listened to his spouse Neha Patel mirror on the horrific crash for the primary time in a Redwood Metropolis court docket and the way their younger son requested her, “When’s daddy coming residence?”
“We want him in our lives and it has been over a yr and a half since my kids or I’ve seen or spoken to Dharmesh,” Neha Patel mentioned, in accordance with the San Francisco Chronicle.
“We aren’t a household with out him.”
Dharmesh Patel faces three counts of tried homicide after he allegedly drove the household’s Tesla off a 250-foot cliff in an tried murder-suicide on a stretch of the Pacific Coast Freeway often called “Satan’s Slide” on January 2, 2023.
Patel sustained “critical decrease physique accidents” whereas Neha Patel and their then-7-year-old daughter suffered extreme accidents throughout the harrowing plunge.
Their then-4-year-old son was handled for minor accidents.
He pleaded not responsible to 3 counts of tried homicide and two enhancements — for the accidents to his spouse and daughter, Patch reported.
Patel had claimed his Tesla Mannequin Y skilled tire points when he drove it off the cliff.
Witnesses, nonetheless, mentioned Patel’s Tesla didn’t present indicators of slowing down earlier than the accident as a police report dominated out a possible automobile malfunction.
Neha Patel additionally informed the court docket of her kids’s heartbreak of every birthday and vacation they expertise with out their father.
“When is daddy coming residence? He’s taking so lengthy and I miss him,” she recalled her now 5-year-old son telling her.
A psychologist testified final week that Dharmesh Patel suffered from psychosis and had delusions about his kids being kidnapped and molested earlier than the crash, in accordance with the Orange County Register.
The outlet added that the delusions have been additionally sparked by the nation’s fentanyl disaster and the struggle in Ukraine.
Dharmesh Patel, a radiologist at Windfall Holy Cross Medical Middle in Los Angeles, hopes to qualify for a two-year psychological well being diversion program as an alternative of going through a trial, which may carry a life sentence in jail.
Through the listening to, Psychologist Mark Patterson famous the daddy was a “very motivated” candidate for this system and “amenable to remedy.”
Final yr, Neha Patel informed investigators that her husband was suicidal and deliberately drove off the street and pleaded for authorities to not prosecute the daddy.
“He’s depressed. He’s a health care provider. He mentioned he was going to drive off the cliff. He purposefully drove off,” Neha informed rescuers on the time.
Neha Patel, nonetheless, later claimed in Thursday’s testimony that her husband has “by no means had an episode” of their 25 years collectively, in accordance with the SF Chronicle.
“Now that we perceive and know he has a treatable situation, issues will likely be completely different,” she mentioned. “I need members of the court docket to know the well being and security of my household is of paramount significance.”
In 2018, California launched the pre-trial diversion program for defendants who have been recognized with a psychological dysfunction.
If Patel have been to obtain care and full the two-year program, his legal fees could be dismissed and his arrest document destroyed.
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