A New Mexico state court judge has dismissed child sex abuse charges against West Wing actor and director Timothy Busfield, saying the prosecution failed to act “fairly and impartially” during the grand jury proceedings.
Judge Joseph Montano said prosecutors could bring new charges against Busfield.
The actor has strongly denied allegations that he inappropriately touched two young boys – twin brothers – on the Albuquerque set of the Fox TV drama series The Cleaning Lady.
A spokesperson for New Mexico’s 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office said the office is evaluating its options.
The twins reported that “the alleged contact occurred over a two-year period, when they were ages seven and eight, during production interruptions,” prosecutors said in a criminal complaint filed in January.
Busfield, director and producer of The Cleaning Lady, was indicted in February in a four-count grand jury indictment accusing the actor of groping one of the boys.
He has steadfastly maintained his innocence, calling the allegations against him “lies,” and his lawyers have called for the charges against him to be dropped.
In Friday’s ruling, Montano said the prosecution failed to properly instruct grand jury members on the procedures for requesting testimony from additional witnesses. In part, the prosecutor falsely informed the grand jurors that at least eight of them would have to agree to want to hear from a witness for that person to be called.
“The prosecutor failed to act fairly and impartially,” Montano wrote, adding that the attorney’s actions “had the practical effect of unilaterally withholding witnesses requested by the ‘grand jurors.’”
Busfield, 69, is best known for his prime-time television roles as a White House reporter on the NBC political series The West Wing and as an advertising agency executive on the ABC ensemble series Thirtysomething. He also appeared in the baseball film Field of Dreams with Kevin Costner.
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