A California appeals court on Monday overturned the sex abuse conviction of former UCLA gynecologist Dr. James Heaps and ordered a new trial, concluding he was denied a fair proceeding. The 2nd District Court of Appeal found that the trial judge failed to disclose a note from the jury foreman that raised concerns about a substitute juror’s ability to serve because of limited English proficiency.
Heaps’ defense attorney, Leonard Levine, said the defense team only learned of the foreman’s note two years later when an attorney working on appeal found it in a court file. Levine said the note had never been shared with the defense, and that if it had not been discovered, the omission would have remained hidden.
Heaps was sentenced in 2023 to 11 years in prison after his 2022 conviction on several counts alleging sexual abuse of patients. He had pleaded not guilty to 21 felony counts involving seven women between 2009 and 2018. In October 2022 a jury convicted him on three counts of sexual battery by fraud and two counts of sexual penetration, found him not guilty on seven counts and was deadlocked on the rest.
The appellate panel’s 31-page opinion says concerns were raised roughly an hour after Juror No. 15 was seated as a substitute following another juror’s medical issue. The foreman’s note indicated Juror No. 15 did not speak English well enough to participate in deliberations, and the court’s failure to inform the defense was deemed a serious error.
Prosecutors have 30 days to seek further review; the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office said it plans to retry the case as soon as possible. The appeals panel acknowledged the burden a retrial places on the court and on alleged victims but said the constitutional right to counsel at crucial points in a criminal trial required ordering a new trial.