Panel tosses ex-UCLA doctor's sex abuse conviction; lawyers weren't told of juror's 'limited English'
This is read by an automated voice.Please report any issues or inconsistencies here.
An appeals court on Monday overturned a conviction for an ex-UCLA gynecologist serving 11 years in prison on charges of sexually abusing patients after determining that the trial judge failed to inform his lawyers that some of the jurors raised questions about the English proficiency of one of the panel members.A three-justice panel of the California 2nd District Court of Appeal ordered that the once-renowned cancer expert, James Heaps, 69, be sent back for a retrial on the charges involving the two patients he was convicted of abusing.In October 2022, after a complex two-month jury trial, Heaps was convicted of three counts of sexual battery by fraud and two counts of sexual penetration involving the two patients.
Jurors acquitted him of abusing two other patients and deadlocked on charges involving four more patients.In April 2023, a judge sentenced him to 11 years in prison.The University of California system paid nearly $700 million to settle lawsuits brought by hundreds of Heaps’ accusers.John Manly, who represented more than 200 former patients in a lawsuit that resulted in the settlement with UCLA, said the reversal of Heaps’ conviction is “an indictment of California’s criminal justice system which allows criminals to threaten public safety and prey upon the most vulnerable.’’ “These brave survivors suffered through a four-year ordeal of prosecution and trial resulting in an 11-year prison sentence for this monster,” he said.
“Now they are being told that they must start over....
Our criminal justice system needs reforms that put victims first.’’ California The 65-year-old had been charged with 21 felony counts, but was found guilty of only five.He was found not guilty of seven other counts and the jury deadlocked on nine other sex-related charges.During the jury deliberations, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Carter, who presided...