Former UCLA doctor admits to sexually assaulting 5 patients after previous conviction is overturned

A former UCLA gynecologist pleaded guilty Tuesday to sexually abusing five of his patients during examinations, and the former cancer specialist was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison.

James Heaps, 70, pleaded guilty to 13 charges, including multiple counts of having sex with an unconscious person, and must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

The decision came after a three-judge panel of California's 2nd District Court of Appeal overturned his conviction for sexually abusing two patients with three counts of sexual fraud and two counts of indecent exposure. The court ruled that the trial judge failed to inform his lawyers that other jurors had raised questions about the English proficiency of one of the panel members and ordered a new trial.

Heaps has been in state prison since 2022, and agreed to plead guilty to charges involving not only two women he was convicted of assaulting, but also three women whose allegations a former judge had taken personally during the hearing. In the second trial, Heaps faced the possibility of additional charges and a lengthy prison sentence.

District Deputy. He said. Danette Meyers said Tuesday's plea means Heaps will be eligible for parole in 2028 as time has expired.

More than 500 lawsuits have been filed against Heaps and UCLA, accusing the school of failing to protect patients after becoming aware of misconduct. UCLA paid more than $700 million to settle those charges.

“Now you have finally admitted what you have done, and while your sentence exceeds the justice that is truly sought, your last prison will last forever, a terrible legacy deprived of respect, honor, and integrity instead of shame,” Nicole Gumpert, one of his victims, told him and the judge during the sentencing. “History will not remember you because of respect, it will remember you with contempt, your name will not carry honor, or redemption.”

Heaps, looking frail and frail in an orange prison prison shirt and trousers, showed no reaction during his sentencing.

Jennifer McGrath, who represented some of those in the criminal case and hundreds of others with Darren Kavinoky, said: “This case has been going on for many years … and we are pleased today to hear that Mr.

Heaps was indicted in May 2021 on charges involving seven female patients. Two years later, he surrendered his medical license. During his more than 35-year career, he saw more than 6,000 patients and became the highest-paid UCLA-affiliated physician, according to the lawsuits.

He was convicted in October 2022 after a long and complicated trial in the city of LA and sentenced the following April to 11 years.

But that belief would end later. During the jury's verdict, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Carter, who presided over the case, sent a judge's assistant, Luis Corrales, into the jury room to talk to the judge about a letter sent by the foreman explaining the jurors' “collective concern” that Judge No.

Juror No. 15 had been one of the jurors, but on October 18 he took the position of Juror No. 8. Only an hour later, the judge sent a note, signed by the director. The note said, “We have seen that the language barrier with Juror [No.] 15 prevents us from speaking properly. The judge [No.] 15 could not understand the calls for a guilty or not guilty vote, and told us that his limited English interfered with his understanding of the testimony.”

The assistant juror spoke to the judge in English and, at the request of Juror No. 15, in Spanish. “At no time did the trial judge ask the judge or inform the trial counsel of the existence of the letter,” the appeals panel said, adding that the conversations with the judge's assistant were not recorded.

Heaps' attorney was not notified of the note or communications, and the trial proceeded to a verdict.

The appellate court found “the court's handling of the letter deprived the defendant of his constitutional right to counsel at a critical time in his trial.”

Prosecutors failed to meet their burden of showing, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the constitutional error was harmless, the justices concluded. As a result, the panel vacated the conviction and remanded for a new trial.

Heaps has been serving time in the Soledad prison and will now return there to serve his entire 11-year sentence.

A judge has scheduled a restitution hearing for September in the case where the prosecutor said UCLA and other attorneys are seeking to recover legal fees earned in the case.

Hundreds of lawsuits allege that UCLA actively and intentionally concealed Heaps' sexual abuse of patients. They cite multiple past incidents of sexual contact by female patients that UCLA ignored; some of those victims were cancer patients.

UCLA, in settling the lawsuits, acknowledged “that the conduct allegedly committed by Heaps is reprehensible and against our standards. We thank all who came forward, and we hope that this decision is one step in providing some level of healing to the plaintiffs involved,” the university said in a statement.