Busfield Indictment Tossed Over Grand Jury Misconduct — SkimNews
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- Timothy Busfield had a two-count criminal sexual contact and child abuse indictment dismissed Friday by New Mexico Judge Joseph Montano, nearly a year after his arrest on charges stemming from alleged incidents with two minor boys on the set of The Cleaning Lady.
- Judge Montano ruled that the prosecutor "failed to act in a fair and impartial manner," including improperly instructing the grand jury and using an "incomplete explanation of the subpoena requirement to unilaterally withhold evidence" that jurors had requested.
- Montano concluded that the grand jury proceedings "violated grand jury statutes designed to protect the structural integrity of our grand jury system" and applied a presumption of prejudice in Busfield's favor.
- Bernalillo County DA Sam Bregman's office told Deadline it has "received the order and is evaluating our options to determine how we will proceed," leaving open the possibility of refiled charges.
- Busfield, an Emmy-winning actor known for thirtysomething, has been out on bond since the beginning of the year and now notches a legal win; Deadline notes the DA's terse response "reads volumes."
- The six-page order also authorizes the DA's office to "institute new criminal proceedings" against Busfield if it chooses to refile.
Why it matters: The dismissal turns on procedural misconduct by the Bernalillo County DA's office rather than exoneration on the merits, meaning Busfield remains legally vulnerable to refiled charges; for the DA — once described as a gubernatorial hopeful — the rebuke is a public stain on a high-profile case involving alleged abuse of minors on a major network TV production.
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