A New Mexico judge tore apart the criminal case against Emmy-winning actor Timothy Busfield on Friday, tossing out the child sexual abuse indictment against him after ruling that Albuquerque prosecutors rigged the grand jury process that charged him.

Second Judicial District Court Judge Joseph Montano found that the prosecutor "failed to act in a fair and impartial manner" while presenting the case against the 69-year-old "thirtysomething" and "West Wing" star, according to court filings reviewed by TheWrap. Montano ruled that prosecutors botched instructions to grand jurors about calling witnesses and then used an unexplained procedure to keep out testimony the jurors themselves had asked to hear — violations he said struck at "the structural integrity of the proceedings," triggering what he called an automatic "presumption of prejudice."

"THE PROSECUTING ATTORNEY FAILED TO ACT IN A FAIR AND IMPARTIAL MANNER."

Busfield had pleaded not guilty in February to four felony counts of criminal sexual contact with a minor, stemming from allegations that he inappropriately touched two boys, both around 11 years old, in October 2022 and September 2023 while he was directing episodes of the Freeform/Netflix drama "The Cleaning Lady" and serving as one of its executive producers. A warrant went out in January, and Busfield surrendered to authorities on Jan. 13. A judge later released him from custody ahead of trial, barring him from unsupervised contact with minors.

The dismissal followed a 309-page motion Busfield's defense filed in June demanding the indictment be thrown out, arguing Bernalillo County prosecutors misstated the law to grand jurors and shut out witnesses the panel wanted to hear from — including, the defense says, evidence from an outside investigation that found no proof of misconduct. State prosecutors had countered that Busfield had ample opportunity to make his case to the grand jury and that nothing material was withheld, pushing for the case to proceed toward a trial that had been tentatively set for May, per KOB-TV's running coverage of the case.

Crucially, Montano's order is not a dismissal with prejudice — meaning District Attorney Sam Bregman's office is free to take the case back to a new grand jury and refile charges if it chooses. Bregman's office had previously said only that Busfield is "presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty" and that it expected the case to go to trial; it had not publicly responded to Friday's ruling as of this writing.

Busfield, best known for playing Elliot Weston on "thirtysomething" (which won him a 1991 Emmy), Danny Concannon on "The West Wing," and Mark in "Field of Dreams," has consistently denied wrongdoing. "I did not do anything to those little boys," he has said, vowing to fight the case until he is cleared. He was dropped by his talent agency, Innovative Artists, after the charges surfaced, according to reporting on the case. His wife, actor Melissa Gilbert, has stood by him publicly through the proceedings.

What happens next rests with Bregman's office. Prosecutors must now decide whether to present the allegations to a fresh grand jury — this time, presumably, by the book — or let the case against one of television's most familiar supporting-cast faces simply disappear.