A judge Friday rejected a defense motion to dismiss a grand jury indictment against a former UCLA campus gynecologist/oncologist who is charged with sex-related crimes involving seven patients.
James Mason Heaps’ attorney, Leonard Levine, contended that the prosecution failed to present exculpatory evidence — medical records and chaperones he claimed were in the rooms during the examinations — to the grand jury, which handed up the indictment May 20.
“This indictment should be dismissed … This case should not stand,” the defense lawyer told Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kathleen Kennedy.
Deputy District Attorney Danette Meyers countered that the prosecution had presented “evidence sufficient for an indictment” and urged the judge to deny the defense bid.
The judge sided with the prosecution, saying, “Am I prepared to find that the prosecution withheld exculpatory evidence from the grand jury? No.”
Levine said outside court that he was considering whether to ask California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal to overturn the judge’s ruling and find that the indictment should be dismissed.
Heaps, 64, of Woodland Hills, was indicted in May on nine counts each of sexual battery by fraud and penetration of an unconscious person by fraudulent representation, along with three counts of sexual exploitation. The charges stem from alleged crimes between 2009 and 2018 involving seven former patients of Heaps.
He had initially been charged in May 2019 with more counts, subsequently added involving the former patients, but the prosecution opted to seek a grand jury indictment shortly before a hearing was scheduled to begin to determine if there was sufficient evidence to allow the case against him to proceed to trial.
Heaps remains free on bail while awaiting his next court appearance, Sept. 14, in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom.
Last month, a federal judge gave final approval to the $73 million settlement of a lawsuit brought by more than 5,500 women who allege they were sexually abused and assaulted while patients of Heaps at either Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center from 1986 to 2018, the university’s student health center from 1983 to 2010 or Heaps’ university medical office from 2014 to 2018.
The settlement approved by U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner also requires UCLA to ensure stronger oversight procedures for identification, prevention and reporting of sexual misconduct.
Heaps and UCLA still face multiple civil lawsuits filed on behalf of women who alleged that he repeatedly sexually assaulted them under the guise of performing legitimate medical treatments.
UCLA ended Heaps’ employment and notified law enforcement of the allegations against him in June 2018.
Meanwhile, USC has agreed to pay more than $1.1 billion to resolve lawsuits filed on behalf of former patients of ex-campus gynecologist George Tyndall, the largest such payout in higher education history involving allegations of sexual abuse. Tyndall — the only full-time gynecologist at USC’s student health clinic from 1989 until 2016 — is awaiting a hearing in which a judge will determine whether there is enough evidence to require him to stand trial.