Judge says ex-UCLA gynecologist can be retried on charges of sexually abusing female patients

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A judge says a former UCLA gynecologist who was sentenced to prison for sexually abusing student patients can be retried on charges involving four other women. The judge on Friday granted a prosecution request to retry Dr. James Heaps on nine charges after a jury deadlocked on the counts last fall. Heaps was convicted of other charges and is serving 11 years in prison. He worked at UCLA for 35 years. But in lawsuits, former patients claimed he groped them, made suggestive comments or conducted invasive exams. Heaps retired in 2018 and was arrested in 2019 to face criminal charges. UCLA later agreed to pay nearly $700 million in lawsuit settlements to hundreds of his patients.