Say what?
An appeals court overturned the conviction of a disgraced former UCLA gynecologist serving 11 years in prison for sexually abusing patients, after determining the trial judge failed to disclose that jurors had concerns that one of their own barely spoke English.
James Heaps, 69, will be retried on the charges involving the two patients he was convicted of abusing in 2022, a three-judge panel of the California 2nd District Court of Appeal ordered on Monday, the Los Angeles Times reported.
John Manly, who represented more than 200 former Heaps patients in a lawsuit that resulted in a $243.6 million settlement, said the decision to toss the conviction is “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. Now they are being told that they must start over. And why?” the attorney raged.
“Because California has produced laws, policies and some prosecutors and judges who defend the rights of criminals and throw victims to the wolves.”
Hellbound and Down 