Key Takeaways
- A New Mexico judge dismissed Timothy Busfield's grand jury indictment, ruling that the prosecutor "failed to act in a fair and impartial manner."
- Busfield, who denies the allegations, faced four felony counts of criminal sexual contact with a minor under 13 tied to his time on The Cleaning Lady.
- The judge found that flawed instructions prevented jurors from making an informed decision about hearing additional witnesses, but prosecutors can still bring new criminal proceedings.
Timothy Busfield's child sex abuse case has been dismissed after the prosecuting attorney reportedly "failed to act in a fair and impartial manner."
On Friday (October 16), New Mexico judge Joseph Montano granted the 69-year-old West Wing actor's motion to dismiss his grand jury indictment, according to documents seen by USA TODAY.
Montano said in his ruling: "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."
Earlier this year, Busfield was charged with four felony counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor under 13. The accusations are alleged to have occurred during his time on TV drama The Cleaning Lady. He has denied all allegations.
The actor and director's legal team filed for the dismissal of the charges in June, claiming "the state has abdicated its role of administering justice and instead pursued an indictment against Mr. Busfield at the cost of evidence, Mr. Busfield's rights, and the independence and integrity of the grand jury."
In Montano's ruling, it's reported that members of the grand jury asked for additional witness testimony before returning the indictment, but the prosecutor allegedly told them that in order to do that a subpoena and 36-hour notice would be required without informing the 12 jurors that a judge could grant a shorter time frame or the possibility that witnesses could willingly testify without the need for a subpoena at all.
The prosecutor is also alleged to have cited a procedure "not provided for by either rule or statute" that eight of the jurors would have to agree to hear the additional testimony and all 12 would have to agree to return to court after the 36 hours passed.
According to the ruling, when asked about these instructions during a hearing on September 25, the prosecutor "did not provide any explanation."
Because of this, the jury was unable to make an informed decision, Montano wrote, adding that the State "remains free to institute new criminal proceedings against" Busfield.
