Judge tosses child sex abuse charges against actor Timothy Busfield, citing prosecutor misconduct
Busfield has repeatedly denied allegations linked to his time as director on set of TV show
A New Mexico judge has dismissed an indictment against West Wing and Field of Dreams actor Timothy Busfield that accused him of criminal sexual contact with a child, citing prosecutorial misconduct and errors that undermined the grand jury process.
State District Judge Joseph Montano granted a defence motion to toss the charges in a decision released Friday.
Busfield has repeatedly denied the allegations, describing them as lies motivated by revenge.
Prosecutors did not immediately say whether they would seek a new indictment.
The case stems from when Busfield was directing the TV series The Cleaning Lady from 2022 to 2024. The parents of two twin boys who were let go from the show claimed that Busfield inappropriately touched the children on the set in Albuquerque, N.M.
According to a criminal complaint filed in January, an investigator with the Albuquerque Police Department said a boy reported that Busfield touched him on his private areas over his clothing on one occasion when he was seven years old and another time when he was eight.
The boy's twin brother told authorities he was also touched by Busfield, but he did not specify where and didn't say anything because he didn't want to get in trouble, the complaint said.
Busfield turned himself in and was released from jail pending trial by a judge who found no pattern of criminal conduct or similar allegations involving children in Busfield's past.
The grand jury indictment followed just weeks later, reiterating allegations that Busfield "touched or applied force to the intimate parts" of one of the boys on several occasions. The indictment allowed the case to proceed without a preliminary hearing on evidence.
Busfield's attorneys noted that the children told police during initial interviews that Busfield didn't touch them inappropriately and accused the boys' parents of coaching their children to give incriminating statements after the boys lost lucrative roles on the show.
Defence argued prosecutors ignored lack of evidence
In June, Busfield's attorneys officially asked the court to throw out the indictment, alleging in a motion that prosecutors were "willfully blind to the lack of evidence" and "invented procedural hurdles" to keep grand jurors from hearing witness testimony.
During a September hearing, Busfield's attorney Amanda Fayerberg played audio recordings of grand jurors asking to hear from additional witnesses. Fayerberg said prosecutors wrongly informed jurors that subpoenas would be needed, even though those witnesses were "present, available and willing to testify."
"The state engaged in egregious prosecutorial misconduct," Fayerberg said.
Bernalillo County District Attorney Greer Staley countered that the defence hadn't followed the correct process for submitting evidence to a grand jury and that Busfield himself improperly and "excessively" tried to steer grand jurors toward favourable witnesses and exhibits during his three-hour testimony.
Busfield appears at a hearing at the Bernalillo County Courthouse in Albuquerque, N.M., in January. (AJ Skuy/Fox News/The Associated Press)
According to the transcripts of the proceedings submitted by Busfield's attorneys, the actor also known for appearances in Thirtysomething told jurors that the case had turned his life upside down and affected his entire family. He testified that he had been "cancelled," meaning he lost work and was fired by his agency.
Busfield also testified that he had nothing to hide and when asked about the allegations that he had caressed the children, he answered: "I'm saying that is absolutely one gazillion percent untrue. Never ever."
Prosecutors had said each count in the indictment carried a possible penalty of six years in prison that could be enhanced.
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Russell Brand’s trial: what we’ve heard and seen so far
Accused of assaulting six women, the former comedian and presenter denies all charges
Russell Brand’s trial at Southwark crown court began this week, with widespread media coverage. The former comedian and presenter is accused of assaulting six women. He denies all charges. Here are five things we have learned so far:
1. ‘Indiscriminate and voracious’: the prosecution sets out its case
Brand faces three charges of rape, three of sexual assault and one of indecent assault against six women, in allegations spanning 10 years from 1999 to 2009. He denies all the charges and has pleaded not guilty.
Jury selection began on Monday but the prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC opened the case on Wednesday. She told the court that Brand, 51, was a ruthless, calculated and manipulative predator with an “indiscriminate and voracious” desire for sexual contact.
His methods varied, she argued, and women were just a means to an end for him.
“Sometimes he might tell women what they wanted to hear, be nice, be kind. Sometimes he might have appeared interested in their cause, sometimes he might even have made sexual advances within minutes of meeting them, identified someone young and impressionable where he was performing – but every time he had identified his target, he was intent on trying to fulfil his sexual desire,” Karmy-Jones said.
2. ‘I was like a zombie’: court hears first women’s accounts
The court has so far heard from two of the six women who have made allegations against Brand. Both women have given evidence from behind a screen, and the trial judge, Mr Justice Bennathan, has told the jury that the measure was quite standard, saying: “Don’t hold it against anyone.”
The earliest allegation Brand faces is from a woman who claims the TV personality raped her after a fringe cabaret show at the 1999 Labour party conference in Bournemouth.
She broke down in tears in the witness box on Thursday as she told how Brand was “monster-like” when he pushed her on to a bed in a hotel room in an attack that left her feeling as if she couldn’t breathe.
“I was like a zombie on the bed. All I could think was he’s inside me and the quicker the better,” she said.
Brand is accused of indecently assaulting the second alleged victim, who told the court on Friday that he transformed into a “wild-eyed maniac” when he tried to drag her into a men’s toilets for a sexual encounter.
The woman, who was working for MTV at the time, alleged she “wrenched” herself free, saying: “I emerged relatively unscathed. He didn’t manage to rape me.”
3. 'No power imbalance': Brand sets out his defence
The court heard that in prepared statements in police interviews, Brand denied all the allegations. He said he had never engaged in nonconsensual sexual activity, and suggested some accounts may have been reinvented or imagined after a 2023 documentary about his alleged sexual misconduct.
His defence barrister, Ian Winter KC, suggested to the first complainant that Brand was a “very young-looking boy” and there was “no power imbalance” during their alleged encounter in 1999.
He suggested to the second complainant that Brand had “invited” her into the toilet for a consensual sexual encounter and that it had been a “short-lived, very, very minor incident”.
4. 'I pray for everybody': Brand puts faith in Christian image
Brand has arrived at court with his wife, Laura, on three of the five days the case has been sitting. His security guard and members of his entourage have sat in the public gallery each day.
Arriving at Southwark crown court on Friday in his signature dark suit, cross necklace and long scarf, the actor said: “Obviously it’s an extraordinary and stressful situation, but it is also an exploration of truth and justice and, as I’ve said before, I pray for everybody involved.
“It’s in a way very, very sad but hopefully it can bring about some conclusions that are beneficial.”
In court, Brand has sat upright with his hands in his lap, appearing to listen intently to the evidence. Journalists sitting in the press gallery, directly behind the glass dock, have caught glimpses of his reflection as he stares ahead. Occasionally, he has been spotted clutching prayer beads.
5. The court case as content
Brand has arrived at court each morning to a large crowd of photographers and journalists from across the world.
There has been widespread international coverage of the case, including in the US, where Brand now lives with his wife and children.
Each day there have been at least 20 journalists crammed into court 3 where the trial is taking place, and about 30 more have been watching on a screen in another courtroom in the building. Some have accessed the case remotely via CVP link.
There are at least five daily podcasts covering the trial, and several journalists from the same outlets have been angling to get into court.
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