Sex abuse conviction of former UCLA gynecologist overturned by appeals court
Dr. James Heaps appears in the Los Angeles Superior Court on June 26, 2019. (Photo by Al Seib/The Los Angeles Times via the Associated Press)
A California appeals court has overturned the conviction of a former gynecologist at the University of California at Los Angeles who was sentenced for sexually abusing his patients.
Dr. James Heaps—who was sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2023—did not get a fair trial, ruled a three-justice panel on the California 2nd District Court of Appeal.
According to coverage by the Associated Press, the judge in the case failed to share with Heaps’ defense counsel a note presented by the jury foreman about a juror who could not perform their duties because of a language barrier.
Heaps’ attorney, Leonard Levine, was not made aware of the note until two years later, when the note was discovered in a court file, according to the AP.
“It still would have remained a secret, which is very unfortunate since it would have been a miscarriage of justice, but thankfully, it’s been corrected,” Levine said.
Heaps was accused of sexually assaulting hundreds of patients during his 35-year career, and UCLA made nearly $700 million in payouts over lawsuits connected to the allegations, according to the AP.
Heaps pleaded not guilty to 21 felony counts in the sexual assaults of seven women between 2009 and 2018. He was convicted in 2022 of three counts of sexual battery by fraud and two counts of sexual penetration of two patients, the AP reports. The jury found Heaps not guilty of seven of the 21 counts, and it was deadlocked on the remaining charges, according to the AP.
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