A California appeals court has ordered that James Heaps, MD, be retried due to a juror who lacked sufficient knowledge in speaking English to carry out their duties, NPR reported Feb. 3.
In October 2022, Dr. Heaps, a former OB-GYN at the University of California Los Angeles, was sentenced to 11 years in prison after being convicted of five counts of sexual assault. According to court documents, the related assaults took place between 2009 and 2018. In May 2022, UCLA settled with 312 victims alleging abuse by Dr. Heaps for $374.4 million. The university was criticized for not adequately warning the public about allegations against him.
A three-justice panel determined Dr. Heaps was denied a fair trial because the judge did not share a note with the defense counsel that indicated one juror lacked sufficient knowledge of English. Within one hour of Juror No. 15 being seated as a substitute for a juror who had a medical issue, concerns were raised that the juror did not speak English well enough to participate in deliberations. The panel ruled this was too grave not to order a retrial.
“We recognize the burden on the trial court and regrettably, on the witnesses, in requiring retrial of a case involving multiple victims and delving into the conduct of intimate medical examinations,” the ruling stated. “The importance of the constitutional right to counsel at critical junctures in a criminal trial gives us no other choice.”
Prosecutors have 30 days to appeal the ruling.
