Indian-origin doctor accused of driving family off cliff in California seeks mental health treatment in court

Dharmesh Patel was charged in May with three counts of first-degree attempted murder after allegedly driving himself, his wife, and their two children.

A 41-year-old Indian-origin doctor in the US who faces sentencing for allegedly attempting to kill his wife and two minor children by "purposely" driving his Tesla car off the Pacific Coast Highway has asked for a mental health diversion instead of a prison term, a media report said.

The incident took place in Devil's Slide near California Highway 1.(Representational Image)

Dharmesh Patel was charged in May with three counts of first-degree attempted murder after allegedly driving himself, his wife, and their two children -- the 4-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl -- off the Devil's Slide near California Highway 1 in his Tesla, KRON-TV reported on Saturday.

They all survived the crash on January 3 this year.

Patel's wife maintains that her husband told his family he would drive off the cliff before the incident. The suspect claimed his Tesla Model Y was having tire issues when he drove off the 250-foot cliff in California.

"He drove off. He’s depressed," Neha Patel said in an affidavit obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper.

"He’s a doctor. He said he was going to drive off the cliff. He purposely drove off."

Patel pleaded not guilty and instead asked for a mental health diversion because of his major depressive disorder (MDD) diagnosis, the report said.

To be eligible for the programme, a suspect's mental disorder needs to be a "significant factor" in the criminal act, California law says.

If participants complete treatment within the diversion programme, their charges could be dropped and their arrest could be expunged.

Murder and voluntary manslaughter suspects are excluded from the diversion programme, but attempted murder is not explicitly ruled out.

After the programme is complete, the court decides if the previous charges would be reinstated.

District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe previously said everyone in the vehicle needed to be pulled from the car's windows. The boy was not injured, while Patel's daughter sustained serious injuries but recovered quickly.

Patel's wife, Neha "suffered probably the most serious injuries", Wagstaffe explained.

Patel's eligibility for the mental health diversion will be decided at the end of July.

Aside from that initial comment to paramedics, Wagstaffe said witnesses and video footage from the Tom Lantos Tunnel, which Patel drove through before the crash, showed his Tesla driving straight off the cliff without braking or attempting to serve to safety.

Investigators were examining the Tesla to determine if there were any mechanical issues with the vehicle before the crash, which could strengthen the defence's argument in court.

California officials believed Patel's actions were "intentional".