According to media reports, a radiologist of Indian descent who crashed his Tesla car into a US cliff while his wife and kids were inside had major depressive disorder and was going through a psychotic episode.
Prosecutors say that in January of last year, Dharmesh Patel of Pasadena, California, drove the family’s Tesla off the cliff at Devil’s Slide on Highway 1 near Half Moon Bay. He was charged with three counts of attempted murder.
Amazingly, Patel, his wife Neha, and their two kids—a 4-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl at the time—lived.
Patel, 43, was experiencing hallucinations, hearing footsteps and believed his children had been sex trafficked, two doctors testified at a hearing on Wednesday in Redwood City.
Wednesday’s hearing was a response to an earlier request from Patel who is seeking a mental health diversion in his case, the New York Post newspaper reported.
Patel would not go to jail; rather, if the judge grants the doctors’ request, he would be put on a two-year treatment plan.
If Patel doesn’t commit any crimes while following the suggested treatment plan, his charges will be dropped.
According to the Los Angeles Times, District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe stated that Patel was going through a psychotic episode at the time of the crash and thought his kids might be involved in sex trafficking. This was supported by the doctors’ testimony.
Mark Patterson and James Armontrout, two physicians, gave testimony on behalf of the defense.
In the event that Patel is enrolled in the mental diversion program, his care will be supervised by Stanford psychiatric clinician James Armontrout.
“I see him as someone who is very motivated and amenable to treatment,” psychologist Mark Patterson testified at the hearing.
Patterson’s diagnosis of Patel came after a series of 18 tests were conducted and he spoke with the doctor and his siblings.
Prosecutors oppose diversion in the case, arguing that the prosecution’s doctor found Patel is not suffering from a major depressive disorder with a psychotic feature, but from a different disorder, known as schizoaffective, and that the defence’s proposed treatment plan will not be effective.
Prosecutors believe the case should remain in court.
Wagstaffe worried that if Patel is released he will not be monitored except in his meetings with doctors.
“If he goes off his medication, how do you know? It’s not like being on probation or parole. It’s purely the visits with the psychiatrist,” he said.
Patel’s attorney, Joshua Bentley, did not respond to a request for comment, the report said.
Read More
Team SJEC Wins CMTI’s National Level Innovation Hackathon
