Dharmesh Patel and his defense attorney Joshua Bentley inside the courtroom during Patel’s court proceeding in Redwood City, California, on Thursday, February 9, 2023. Patel, who drove a Tesla off a cliff with his two children and wife in the car, is being charged with attempted murder.
A Pasadena radiologist was hearing footsteps and suffering from delusions about the country’s fentanyl crisis, the war in Ukraine and the possibility of his children being kidnapped when his family’s Tesla, which he was driving, plunged along Highway 1 last year near Devil’s Slide, a psychologist testified Wednesday.
Dharmesh Patel’s psychosis, and his possible recovery, took center stage at a hearing Wednesday to determine whether the doctor will be admitted to a program known as mental health diversion rather than face trial on charges of attempted murder of his wife. and two children in the January 2023 crash. If a judge grants Patel’s request, the charges against him could be dismissed in the coming years after he completes a court-ordered treatment program.
On Wednesday, a clinical and forensic psychologist said Patel was a good candidate for the diversion program because he was at low risk of harming anyone else after showing strong progress over the past year.
“I see him as someone who is very motivated and open to treatment,” said psychologist Mark Patterson, who was called to the stand by Patel’s attorney. The clinician added that “it is clear to me that he has a good capacity” to respond to treatment.
If the request is granted, a Stanford psychiatric clinician, James Armontrout, said he would oversee Patel’s treatment, which would include intensive outpatient care with group and individual therapy sessions, as well as meetings with himself and a psychotherapist.
However, San Mateo County prosecutors have filed motions opposing the request. They are expected to call their first witness when the case returns to court on May 2.
Prosecutors say Patel intentionally tried to kill his wife and two young children by driving off a 250-foot cliff on a rocky beach near Half Moon Bay. Patel suffered injuries to his leg and foot, while his wife suffered more serious injuries. His 7-year-old son was seriously injured and his 4-year-old son only suffered bruises.
Patel later pleaded not guilty, stating that the family’s Tesla had been experiencing tire problems that could have caused the accident. He allegedly told investigators that he stopped at gas stations three times that day to put air in his left rear tire while driving toward the Devil’s Slide area.
He added that the car’s tire pressure sensor light had come on earlier, according to authorities. He has since been held without bond at the San Mateo County Jail.
Patel’s mental state has been a central issue in the case, with his wife initially telling first responders that her husband was “depressed” and “was going to drive off the cliff.” He drove intentionally.” Investigators also said the Tesla’s self-driving features “did not appear to be a contributing factor” in the incident.
Ultimately, the radiologist appeared to be experiencing a single expression of major depressive disorder that day, along with psychotic features and anxious distress, Patterson testified Wednesday. In the days before the accident, Patel became increasingly delusional and overwhelmed by headlines from around the world, such as the war in Ukraine and the fentanyl crisis in the United States, the psychologist said.
Patel’s biggest delusions revolved around the risk of her children being kidnapped and abused, which appeared to be somehow related to her concerns about accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, the psychologist added.
Patterson’s diagnosis came after the psychologist ran 18 tests and spoke with Patel, along with the radiologist’s brother and sister.
Patel, the psychologist added, “still feels a lot of remorse.” But he shows few, if any, lingering signs of that depression, Patterson testified. And he stopped having delusions, even after being taken off antipsychotic medication while being held without bail in the San Mateo County Jail.
Prosecutors on Wednesday questioned Patterson about why he did not interview Patel’s wife before completing his report; Patterson said he did not believe such an interview would have provided him with significantly new information. Prosecutors also questioned whether the radiologist’s illness more closely resembled schizoaffective disorder, an often chronic condition similar to schizophrenia. At least one other doctor has diagnosed him with that condition, according to court testimony.
They also focused extensively on statements Patel made in the days immediately after the accident, where he denied having suicidal thoughts or mental problems. And they badgered Armontrout and Patterson over whether the radiologist himself or his family could trust to honestly report any recurrence of signs of paranoid delusions, given that doing so could ultimately restart criminal proceedings and leave him at risk of imprisonment.
State lawmakers established the mental health diversion program in 2018 as a way for eligible defendants to have their cases dismissed if they successfully complete a rigorous and lengthy treatment program.
To be eligible for the program, defendants must be diagnosed with a mental illness that has a direct connection to their alleged crime. The mental illness must also be treatable within the duration of the diversion program, which is two years for felony cases and one year for misdemeanor cases.
People accused of serious crimes, such as murder, are not eligible for the program. However, the charges Patel faces, which include attempted murder, make him eligible.
Even if Patel gains entry to the program, it is unclear whether he will be able to practice medicine in the near future. Last year, a judge granted a request by the Medical Board of California to bar Patel from practicing medicine while he awaits trial on the charges, arguing that Patel posed “an alarming danger to the public” in light of a “disturbance of the cognitive abilities necessary to practice medicine safely.
The medical board has said Patel will continue to be restricted from practicing medicine “until the order is modified by the court or the criminal case against him is concluded.”
Original story in OC Register
Pasadena doctor accused of trying to kill family by plunging car off Highway 1 seeks diversion program
View more on Excelsior California
