Timothy Busfield’s child sexual abuse indictment has been dismissed by the judge.
The West Wing actor had pled not guilty to four counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor (child under 13), and Judge Joseph Montaño has now granted Busfield’s motion to quash the indictment, after declaring the “prosecuting attorney failed to act in a fair and impartial manner”.
According to Us Weekly, the New Mexico judge said in court documents: “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.
“In doing so, the grand jury proceedings were conducted in a manner that violated grand jury statutes designed to protect the structural integrity of our grand jury system and the presumption of prejudice applies.”
However, according to the the filing, the state can institute new criminal proceedings against Busfield.
Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office spokesperson Nancy Laflin told PEOPLE in a statement: “Our office has received the order and is evaluating our options to determine how we will proceed.”
Busfield’s civil attorney, Stanton ‘Larry’ Stein previously blasted the case against his client as “fundamentally unsound”.
He told PEOPLE: “What is deeply concerning is that the District Attorney is choosing to proceed on a case that is fundamentally unsound and cannot be proven at trial. The detention hearing exposed fatal weaknesses in the State’s evidence - gaps that no amount of charging decisions can cure. This prosecution appears driven by something other than the facts or the law.
“Mr. Busfield will fight these charges at every stage and looks forward to testing the State’s case in open court - where evidence matters - not behind closed doors.”
The charges relate to alleged incidents that occurred between late 2022 and early 2024 when Busfield, 69, was working as a director and producer on The Cleaning Lady and Busfield previously alleged the claims were made up by the parents of twin boys in revenge for them being dropped from the show.
Since his arrest, Busfield’s wife, Little House on the Prairie actress Melissa Gilbert, who he married in April 2013, has publicly defended him.
In April, Gilbert, 62, addressed two previous allegations of sexual assault referenced in the arrest warrant and told Good Morning America: “When Tim and I got together, the internet existed. I didn’t go into my relationship blind. I’m neither naive nor am I complicit. I talked to him about it. I asked him questions about it. I heard his side of the story - which nobody has ever heard - which is the truth. And when the time is right, and that is not now, Tim will tell the truth of all of these past allegations when he needs to.”