A New Mexico judge on Friday threw out the criminal indictment against actor Timothy Busfield, ruling that prosecutorial misconduct undermined the grand jury proceedings behind the child sex abuse charges. State District Judge Joseph Montano granted a defense motion to dismiss the case against Timothy Busfield in a written decision released Oct. 16, finding that the prosecuting attorney “failed to act in a fair and impartial manner.”
The ruling ends the current prosecution of Timothy Busfield, 69, best known for roles in The West Wing, Thirtysomething and the film Field of Dreams. Timothy Busfield was indicted in February on four counts of criminal sexual contact of a child, stemming from alleged incidents with two young twin boys while he was working as a director on the Fox television series The Cleaning Lady in Albuquerque from 2022 to 2024.
Busfield has repeatedly denied the allegations, describing them as lies motivated by revenge. He turned himself in to authorities in January and was released from jail pending trial after a judge found no pattern of criminal conduct or similar allegations involving children in his past.
Timothy Busfield Ruling Cites Grand Jury Errors
Judge Montano’s written order zeroed in on how the prosecutor instructed grand jurors, saying the state failed to properly explain the law governing the calling of witnesses. According to the ruling, members of the grand jury had requested additional witness testimony before returning the indictment against Timothy Busfield.
The prosecutor allegedly told the 12 jurors that securing additional testimony would require a subpoena and 36 hours’ notice — without telling them that a judge could grant a shorter time frame or that witnesses could voluntarily testify without a subpoena at all.
“The prosecuting attorney failed to act in a fair and impartial manner, including the failure to properly instruct the grand jury on the law for calling witnesses and in instructing the grand jurors on a procedure that effectively withheld requested witnesses,” Montano wrote. He added that the proceedings were conducted in a way that “violated grand jury statutes designed to protect the structural integrity of our grand jury system and the presumption of prejudice applies.”
The hearing on the defense motion to dismiss was held Sept. 25. Busfield’s legal team had filed the motion to toss the charges in June, setting up the dramatic reversal of a case that had already moved past indictment.
Timothy Busfield’s Legal Team Reacts to Dismissal
In an email Friday, Busfield’s attorney Amanda Fayerberg said the actor was “relieved and grateful” after reading the judge’s decision. Larry Stein, Busfield’s civil attorney, said in an Oct. 16 statement to USA Today: “Tim said from the beginning that he was innocent. That he would fight to prove his innocence. And he did.”
Busfield’s wife, actor Melissa Gilbert of Little House on the Prairie fame, marked the ruling with a Shakespeare quote posted to Instagram: “So shines a good deed in a weary world.” Gilbert had stood by her husband throughout the proceedings, though she has not otherwise commented publicly on the dismissal.
Prosecutors said Friday they had not yet decided whether to pursue another indictment. A spokesperson for the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office told Entertainment Weekly that the office had “received the order and is evaluating our options to determine how we will proceed.”
What Comes Next in the Timothy Busfield Case
The dismissal does not bar prosecutors from presenting the case to a new grand jury. Under New Mexico law, the District Attorney’s office may attempt to “institute new criminal proceedings” if it chooses, meaning the legal saga around Timothy Busfield could yet continue in a different form.
The case began when a doctor at the University of New Mexico Hospital alerted police to allegations involving two young boys in November 2024. According to a criminal complaint filed in January, an Albuquerque Police Department investigator said one boy reported that Busfield touched him on his private areas over his clothing on one occasion when he was 7 and another time when he was 8. The boy’s twin brother told authorities he was also touched, but did not specify where.
The parents of the two boys, who were let go from The Cleaning Lady, claimed the inappropriate touching happened on the set. An arrest warrant was issued Jan. 9, and Busfield surrendered to authorities Jan. 13 after driving roughly 2,000 miles from New York to New Mexico.
For now, the actor’s supporters are treating the judge’s ruling as vindication. But with prosecutors still weighing whether to seek a fresh indictment against Timothy Busfield, the final chapter of the case has yet to be written.