Timothy Busfield’s Indictment Falls Over Blocked Hallway Witnesses

A New Mexico judge on October 16, 2026, threw out Timothy Busfield’s four child-sex felonies after finding prosecutors blocked witnesses the grand jury asked to hear. State District Judge Joseph Montano held that the prosecutor failed to act in a fair and impartial manner. The Bernalillo County district attorney’s office can still charge him again.

Busfield, 69, has denied the claims as revenge after twin boys were recast from Fox’s “The Cleaning Lady.” The order does not decide whether anyone was touched on that Albuquerque set.

A Six-Page Order Quashes the Four Felonies

Montano granted a defense motion to quash the February indictment in a six-page ruling released Friday. The actor, known for “The West Wing,” “thirtysomething,” and “Field of Dreams,” had faced four counts of criminal sexual contact of a child under 13. His lawyer, Amanda Fayerberg, said he was “relieved and grateful,” and later told local reporters he was “relieved to the point of tears.”

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.

Joseph Montano, Second Judicial District Judge, October 16 order

Nancy Laflin, a spokesperson for District Attorney Sam Bregman’s office, wrote that the office had received the order “and is evaluating our options to determine how we will proceed.” Fayerberg said the case might not be finished and that Busfield and witnesses are ready to testify again.

The February instrument is what died on Friday. A January 9 criminal complaint had charged two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of child abuse before the grand jury returned the four contact counts.

Grand Jurors Asked Three Times for Hallway Witnesses

Montano wrote that grand jurors on at least three occasions tried to hear from people who were present and willing to testify. The only witnesses allowed in were Busfield and a detective. About eight potential witnesses sat in the hallway.

Assistant District Attorney Neal Speer ran the presentation. At a September 25 hearing on the motion to quash, multiple witnesses testified that Speer would not let them make statements, and that he seemed agitated by how many people had shown up. Fayerberg played audio of jurors asking for more testimony.

Those witnesses were sitting in the hallway, ready to tell the grand jury what they saw, and what they saw shows that Tim is innocent. The prosecution would not let them in, and the court saw that for what it was: a violation of the grand jury laws that protect the integrity of our justice system.

Amanda Fayerberg, attorney for Timothy Busfield

Defense papers say Speer cut Busfield off when the actor told jurors he had affidavits from the people outside, and told him to direct his statements to the prosecutor only. Prosecutor Greer Staley, arguing for the office, said the defense had not followed the correct process for submitting evidence and that Busfield “excessively” tried to steer jurors toward favorable witnesses and exhibits.

WHAT JURORS WERE TOLD VERSUS THE STATUTE

When asked about those instructions at the September 25 hearing, the prosecutor “did not provide any explanation,” the ruling said. Montano wrote that the state used “an unexplained procedure and an incomplete explanation of the subpoena requirement to unilaterally withhold evidence from the grand jury.”

The Statute on Witnesses Grand Jurors May Call

New Mexico’s grand-jury evidence statute puts a duty on the jurors themselves. If they have reason to believe other lawful evidence is available that would disprove or reduce a charge, or make an indictment unjustified, they shall order the evidence produced. The prosecutor assisting them is still required to help in a fair and impartial way.

The uniform jury instruction used in the state says a prosecuting attorney attending a grand jury shall act fairly and impartially at all times. That is the sentence Montano’s order tracks.

On subpoenas, state law gives the grand jury power to compel attendance, with a minimum 36-hour notice unless shortened by a district judge for each witness. The order found Speer did not tell jurors a judge could shorten that clock, or that people already in the building did not need a subpoena at all.

The charging choice mattered before anyone sat down. An indictment lets the state skip a preliminary hearing, so the first public test of the evidence never happened. The closed session is also what produced the recordings Fayerberg played in September. Montano wrote that those actions were “not in line with either the letter or the spirit of the grand jury laws.”

What the Twins First Told Albuquerque Police?

The boys’ first recorded statements to officers did not describe sexual contact. Later statements in the January complaint did, and those later statements are what the four felonies were built on.

The case traces to production of “The Cleaning Lady” in Albuquerque, which Busfield directed and produced from 2022 to 2024. The twins, then 7 and 8, were recast before the final season. Their parents went to police after the boys were let go.

Late in 2024, a doctor at University of New Mexico Hospital contacted Albuquerque police about a sexual-abuse investigation. An officer spoke with both boys. They did not disclose sexual contact then. They said Busfield, whom they called “Uncle Tim,” would tickle them on the stomach and legs, and that neither liked the tickling. The crimes-against-children unit did not take the case at that time.

On October 3, 2025, the boys’ mother filed a police report and told Child Protective Services that one son had described “inappropriate touching” to a mental health counselor. The January complaint, based on a later Albuquerque Police Department investigation, said one boy reported Busfield touched his private areas over his clothing once when he was 7 and again when he was 8. His twin said he was also touched, did not specify where, and stayed quiet because he did not want to get in trouble.

Defense lawyers say those later accounts were coached after the lost roles, and that Busfield told police the mother wanted revenge for the recasting. He has called the claims lies. Touching a child’s intimate parts, including over clothing, is how New Mexico defines criminal sexual contact of a minor. For a child under 13 that is a third-degree felony for a sexual offense against a child, with a basic term of six years in prison on each count, which prosecutors said could be enhanced.

THE PATH FROM SET TO QUASH

1. Late 2024: A hospital doctor contacts Albuquerque police; both boys describe tickling and do not disclose sexual contact.
2. October 3, 2025: The boys’ mother files a police report after a counselor disclosure.
3. January 9, 2026: A complaint charges two contact counts and one child-abuse count.
4. January 13, 2026: Busfield surrenders in Albuquerque.
5. January 20, 2026: A judge releases him on his own recognizance, finding no pattern of similar conduct with children.
6. February 6, 2026: A grand jury returns four counts of criminal sexual contact of a child.
7. June 2026: His lawyers move to quash, saying prosecutors were “willfully blind to the lack of evidence.”
8. September 25, 2026: The court hears the motion; Fayerberg plays juror audio.
9. October 16, 2026: Montano quashes the indictment and leaves the state free to start over.

The February announcement came from Bregman’s office, which assigned the file to its Special Victims Unit and said Busfield is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

Bernalillo County Grand Jury Issues Indictment in Child Sexual Contact Case
Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman announced today that a Bernalillo County grand jury indicted Timothy Busfield.
Busfield was indicted on the following charges:
Count 1: Criminal Sexual… pic.twitter.com/U9wSlBMMCL

— Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman (@BerncoDa) February 6, 2026

A Studio Investigator Found No Corroboration on Set

Warner Bros. Television, which produced the series, hired an independent review after anonymous complaints reached a SAG-AFTRA hotline. Christina McGovern, the lawyer who led that review, said she had “full discretion” from the studio. “Based on what was alleged, and all evidence gathered, including multiple witness statements, I found no corroborating evidence that Mr. Busfield engaged in inappropriate conduct or that he was ever alone with the twins on set,” McGovern said.

Prosecutors have said the studio’s slow handoff of that file hindered the criminal inquiry, and that the review missed key witnesses. Hairstylist Danielle Vigil, in a declaration, said she never observed anything “unprofessional, inappropriate or sexual” between Busfield and the twins. That was not a jury finding. It is the set record the hallway witnesses were prepared to describe, and that Speer kept out of the grand-jury room.

He Told the Grand Jury He Had Been Canceled

Busfield testified that the case had turned his life upside down, that he had been “canceled,” that he lost work, and that his agency fired him. Asked about claims he had caressed the children, he answered with a line his lawyers have repeated since the surrender.

I’m saying that is absolutely one gazillion percent untrue. Never ever.

Timothy Busfield, grand jury testimony

He has also said, “I did not do anything to those little boys.” His wife, Melissa Gilbert, 62, stood with him at the January release hearing. On Good Morning America she told George Stephanopoulos the ordeal was “the most traumatizing experience of our lives,” that their plans were gone, and that “even if he’s exonerated, he will always be that guy.” She added that if she thought he had hurt a child, “he’d have a lot more to worry about than prison.”

On October 16, after the order landed, Gilbert posted a single line on Instagram: “So shines a good deed in a weary world.” She also shared a headline about the dismissal on her story. A quash does not book a director onto a new series, and it does not take the first police interviews, or the later ones, out of the file.

The State Remains Free to File Again

Montano wrote that the state “remains free to institute new criminal proceedings.” A second grand jury would be a new proceeding, with a new chance to call the people who waited in the hall and to put the twins’ first and later statements in the same room. It would also be a second pass at a case whose first charging vehicle was chosen, in part, to avoid a preliminary hearing.

WHAT WE KNOW

• The order: The four-count indictment is dismissed for the way witnesses were withheld, with a presumption of prejudice.
• The door: Prosecutors may present the case to a new grand jury or otherwise charge him again.
• The denials: Busfield has denied the touching in police interviews, in court, and under oath before the grand jury.

WHAT IS UNCONFIRMED

• A refile: Laflin’s Friday email did not say whether the office will try again.
• The facts of touching: No judge has ruled that the contact happened, or that it did not.
• Work: No studio has announced that it will hire him back.

Fayerberg said Friday that being free, “even knowing that they might refile, is incredibly powerful for him.” The twins’ later complaint still describes contact over clothing on an Albuquerque set. Their first interviews still describe tickling they did not like and no sexual contact. Montano’s six pages decide only that the last grand jury was not allowed to hear the people sitting outside the door.

Disclaimer: This article is news reporting on a criminal case and a written court order. It is for information only and is not legal advice, a finding of guilt or innocence, or a prediction of what prosecutors will do next. Anyone with a legal question about these charges, a related civil claim, or grand-jury procedure in New Mexico should consult a licensed attorney in that state. The counts, dates, and office statements here reflect the public record as given in the October 16, 2026, order and in statements issued around that ruling, and those facts can change if the state files again.