A judge in San Mateo County, California, has dismissed the first-degree attempted murder charges against Dharmesh Patel, a 45-year-old radiologist who allegedly deliberately drove his family off a cliff in January 2023. The charges were tossed after doctors reported that Patel was progressing well in a court-ordered mental health diversion programme. The case matters because it centres on the legal treatment of serious violent acts attributed to severe mental illness, and the outcome allowed Patel to avoid a conventional criminal conviction despite an incident that could have killed his wife and two young children.

Patel was driving his Tesla on the Pacific Coast Highway when he plunged 300 feet off Devil's Slide in Pacifica; first responders had to cut his wife and their two children, aged seven and four, from the wreckage, though all four survived. His lawyers argued he was suffering delusions linked to the war in Ukraine, the fentanyl crisis, and fears his children might be harmed, concerns said to be connected to Jeffrey Epstein. His wife, Neha, told authorities he "did it on purpose", was depressed and needed a psychiatric evaluation. In July 2024 Patel was ordered to complete a two-year mental health diversion programme while living under GPS monitoring at his parents' home in Belmont.