The radiologist suspected of trying to murder his wife and children by deliberately driving the family car over a 250-foot cliff has an unlikely ally in his corner: his wife.
Neha Patel is asking to have charges dropped against her husband, Dharmesh Patel, despite her words of accusation in her initial account of the crash.
At that time she told investigators her husband “intentionally tried to kill us.”
Against long odds, all four members of the family survived the Tesla-demolishing crash, which occurred Jan. 2.
The latest development is reported in California news outlets close to the scene and has been picked up by general news operations elsewhere.
According to the local NBC-TV affiliate in the Bay Area, Dharmesh’s defense lawyer “shook up the courtroom” last Thursday when he relayed that Neha—the prime eyewitness in the case—does not want her husband prosecuted.
No matter, an official from the district attorney’s office says: The case will go forward regardless of Neha’s level of cooperation with the prosecutor.
“[W]e believe we have sufficient evidence to prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt,” says the official, chief deputy DA Sean Gallagher of San Mateo County.
Gallagher adds that it’s common for domestic violence victims to decline taking the side of those working for justice on victims’ behalf, according to a Feb. 13 update from Fox News.
Prior to the Thursday courtroom drama, defendant Patel was held without bail and received a court order to have no contact with his wife or their children.
Back in January, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that, after being taken from the car wreck by helicopter, Neha Patel “spoke with paramedics, making incriminating statements about her husband. … Motorists also told investigators they saw no brake lights on the Tesla when it suddenly made a hard right and plunged off the cliff near Devil’s Slide.”
On Feb. 14 the New York Post added that Patel entered the courtroom last Thursday with a noticeable limp, pleaded not guilty and was told his no-bail jailtime will continue at least until a preliminary hearing slated for March 20.
Other news outlets of note following the case this week include the Bay Area daily Mercury News and, in the U.K., the Daily Mail.
Dave P. has worked in journalism, marketing and public relations for more than 30 years, frequently concentrating on hospitals, healthcare technology and Catholic communications. He has also specialized in fundraising communications, ghostwriting for CEOs of local, national and global charities, nonprofits and foundations.