A judge has dismissed attempted murder charges against a California doctor who prosecutors say deliberately drove his family off a cliff. The decision closes the criminal case, more than two years after the crash.
According to prosecutors, the doctor drove his Tesla off a 250-foot cliff in California in 2023, carrying his wife and their two children. Authorities alleged it was an attempt to kill all of them.
Despite the height of the fall, everyone in the vehicle survived the crash. The case drew wide attention both for the circumstances of the plunge and for the questions it raised about the driver's state of mind.
Rather than sending the doctor to trial, a judge in 2024 ordered him into a mental health program. Completing that program set the stage for the charges against him to be dismissed.
The San Mateo County district attorney's office said it had still wanted the doctor to be prosecuted. Prosecutors said that while the law was followed in reaching the outcome, they felt the law did not provide justice in this case.
The dismissal brings the criminal proceedings to an end, even as prosecutors voiced their frustration with the result. The case has become part of a broader debate over how the justice system handles serious charges resolved through mental health programs.