REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (AP) — A California radiologist accused of making an attempt to kill his household by driving off a cliff alongside the Northern California coast will obtain psychological well being therapy as a substitute of standing trial, a decide dominated.
Prosecutors charged Dharmesh A. Patel, 43, with tried homicide after the Tesla he was driving plunged off a 250-foot (76 meters) cliff alongside the Pacific Coast Freeway in San Mateo County, injuring his spouse and two younger kids. All four survived the Jan. 2, 2023, crash in what one official known as an “absolute miracle.”
San Mateo County District Lawyer Steve Wagstaffe stated Wednesday he was dissatisfied with the decide’s choice.
“I’m dissatisfied with the courtroom’s choice, however Choose Jakubowski fastidiously weighed the proof and the details and went the opposite means,” he stated.
Patel, who was on a household street journey from Pasadena to the Bay Space, should full a two-year psychological well being outpatient therapy program at a Bay Space hospital for the fees to be dropped, Superior Courtroom Choose Susan Jakubowski dominated final week, KRON-TV reported.
Patel’s protection lawyer, Joshua Bentley, argued in Might that the radiologist qualifies for psychological well being diversion below California legislation, the tv station reported.
“It’s vital to know why we’re right here. Not everybody who commits against the law is a legal. There isn’t a query this can be a very critical case. However the legislation encompasses this very state of affairs,” Bentley instructed the decide.
Patel doesn’t pose a hazard to the group as a result of he shall be below an intensive psychiatric therapy program, in addition to monitored with a GPS bracelet outfitted with a siren, Bentley stated.
Deputy District Lawyer Dominique Davis argued that Patel shouldn’t qualify for a psychological well being diversion program as a result of he poses “an unreasonable threat of hazard to public security,” KRON-TV reported.
Patel’s spouse testified that she doesn’t need her husband prosecuted. She stated her kids miss their father and so they need him to return dwelling, the tv station reported.
Davis stated the proof confirmed that within the weeks main as much as the tried triple homicide, Patel skilled paranoia and delusions, that are signs of schizoaffective dysfunction.
The decide agreed with Patel’s protection and stated in her ruling that Patel doesn’t have a historical past of violence and that his analysis of main depressive dysfunction performed a big position in his actions.
Patel, who has been in jail with out bail since his arrest, shall be held for a number of extra weeks earlier than being launched to his dad and mom’ dwelling in Belmont, Calif. He shall be monitored by GPS, should give up his driver’s license and passport, and might want to examine with the courtroom weekly, the decide dominated.
