A former UCLA campus gynecologist whose conviction on sex-related charges involving two women was reversed by an appeals court in February pleaded guilty Tuesday to 13 felony counts.
James Mason Heaps, 69, was immediately sentenced to 11 years in prison, the same term he was serving before his conviction was overturned. The 13 felonies he admitted Tuesday involved a total of five victims.
Heaps was originally was convicted in October 2022 of three counts of sexual battery by fraud and two counts of sexual penetration of an unconscious person.
Jurors acquitted Heaps of charges involving two other patients, and deadlocked on the other nine counts that involved four alleged victims, including one of the women named in a count on which he was convicted.
In February, however, a three-justice panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal ordered the case against Heaps to be sent back for retrial.
In a 31-page ruling, the appellate court panel noted that Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Carter sent his judicial assistant into the jury room twice to speak to the jury about the foreperson’s note describing the jurors’ collective concern that one of the jurors did not speak English sufficiently to deliberate and had already made up his mind, and that the judge did not inquire of the jury or inform the attorneys about the note’s existence.
The appellate court justices found that the note raised a question of whether the juror had a sufficient command of English to perform his duties and that it is “undisputed, including by the trial judge, that the court did not inform counsel of the note and counsel had no opportunity to suggest questions to the judge” or to be heard as to whether the juror was qualified to remain on the panel.
Attorney John Manly, who represented more than 200 former patients of Heaps in a lawsuit that resulted in a settlement with UCLA, said in a statement at the time that the reversal of Heaps’ conviction was “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,” Manly added. “Now they are being told that they must start over … Our criminal justice system needs reforms that put victims first.”
Just before imposing the state prison sentence in April 2023, Carter noted that he had received at least 75 character letters on the defendant’s behalf, and said that Heaps was “by all accounts a world-renowned gynecologist specializing in oncology.” He said the letters sent on behalf of Heaps were filled with stories about him saving the lives of his patients.
“But this reputation also serves as an aggravating factor because it caused the victims in this case to entrust their bodies and lives to him,” the judge said. “It was because of this reputation that he was able to take advantage of the vulnerable position that these victims were in.”
Heaps was indicted in May 2021 on charges involving the seven female patients. He surrendered his medical license in March 2023.
Heaps — who was ordered in 2019 to “cease and desist from the practice of medicine as a condition of bail” after he was first charged that year — served as a gynecologist/oncologist, affiliated with UCLA, for nearly 35 years. At various times, he saw patients at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and at his office at 100 Medical Plaza.
At one time, he was reportedly the highest paid physician in the UC system and had treated about 6,000 patients, attorneys said.
More than 500 lawsuits were filed against Heaps and UCLA, accusing the school of failing to protect patients after becoming aware of the misconduct.
In May 2022, attorneys for 312 former patients of Heaps announced a $374 million settlement of abuse lawsuits against the University of California.
The settlement came on top of a $243.6 million resolution of lawsuits involving about 200 patients announced in February 2022, and a $73 million settlement of federal lawsuits previously reached involving roughly 5,500 plaintiffs.
The lawsuits alleged that UCLA actively and deliberately concealed Heaps’ sexual abuse of patients. UCLA continued to allow Heaps to have unfettered sexual access to female patients — many of whom were cancer patients — at the university, plaintiffs’ attorneys alleged in the lawsuits.
UCLA issued a statement in 2022 saying, “This agreement, combined with earlier settlements involving other plaintiffs, resolves the vast majority of the claims alleging sexual misconduct by James Heaps, a former UCLA Health physician.
“The conduct alleged to have been committed by Heaps is reprehensible and contrary to our values. We are grateful to all those who came forward, and hope this settlement is one step toward providing some level of healing for the plaintiffs involved.
“We are dedicated to providing the highest quality care that respects the dignity of every patient. We are taking all necessary steps to ensure our patients’ well-being in order to maintain the public’s confidence and trust,” the statement continued.