Timothy Busfield's child sex abuse case in New Mexico has been dismissed because of prosecutorial misconduct ... though the judge is leaving the door open for prosecutors to charge him again.
TMZ has obtained an order from a judge quashing the grand jury indictment ... claiming prosecutors misrepresented the admissibility of lie detector evidence to the grand jury.
He also says the state didn't call certain witnesses after the grand jury asked to hear from them.
Timothy Busfield is trying to line up some unlikely support in his child sex abuse case ... parents of other child actors who worked on the show "The Cleaning Lady" ... TMZ has learned.
According to new court docs, obtained by TMZ, Busfield wants several parents with ties to the show available to testify as he fights to get his indictment tossed ... butting heads with prosecutors, who are trying to exclude witnesses from an upcoming hearing on his motion to dismiss.
And the parents aren't alone on his witness list ... Busfield's team also named several crew members from the series ... including a director of photography, a hair and makeup worker, a line producer, a COVID nurse, and a stand-in actor ... who the defense says are ready to testify in the case.
Timothy Busfield wants his indictment thrown out ... telling a judge the prosecutors' presentation of evidence to the grand jury failed to tell the whole story.
The actor filed papers asking a judge to toss the grand jury indictment because the state of New Mexico has "abdicated its role in administering justice" and is blindly pursuing an indictment against him.
Busfield says prosecutors are well aware of an independent investigation into the allegations against him conducted by Warner Bros. that he says found nothing to back those allegations, a lie detector test Busfield passed in which he said he never inappropriately touched one of the alleged victims, and multiple witness affidavits defending him ... but has chosen to ignore all of that.
Timothy Busfield's accusers say he touched their kids inappropriately on set ... but the actor-director's lawyer says they're bloodthirsty scammers -- out for either money or revenge.
Busfield's civil attorney, Larry Stein, told NewsNation on Monday that the children's parents have been labeled by the Department of Justice as scammers, and he says they coerced their children to lie about the accusations to get back at Busfield.
Remember ... the kids' father is a disbarred lawyer who reportedly did jail time for cheating people out of millions of dollars -- meanwhile, Stein says the mother got caught passing bad checks at Las Vegas casinos.
Melissa Gilbert is jumping to the defense of her husband Timothy Busfield ... speaking out publicly for the first time since he was charged with sexual contact of a minor -- addressing prior sexual assault allegations she says she was aware of for a long time.
Gilbert -- who appeared on 'GMA' alongside her attorney Larry Stein -- says the past few months have been "traumatic," adding that she waited to speak until now after seeing what she describes as widespread misinformation.
During the interview ... George Stephanopoulos points to Busfield's criminal complaint, which references two prior sexual assault allegations back in 1994 and 2012 -- one of which was settled -- and asks Gilbert directly if she was aware.
In a preview for her upcoming interview, the morning show -- her first since her husband's been charged -- she said this has been the "most traumatizing experience of our lives."
In the teaser for the sit-down, host George Stephanopoulos asks Melissa point-blank if she thinks the parents and the alleged victims are "just making this all up" ... and she reacts by looking up and off to the side.
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'GMA' dropped the promo during Thursday's broadcast, and George told his cohosts that Melissa "had a lot to say to defend Tim Busfield" in the "provocative" interview.
Timothy Busfield's upcoming child sex abuse trial in New Mexico looks like it might feature some explosive testimony ... because prosecutors are signaling that several people who've accused Timothy of sexual assault in the past will be called as witnesses.
New legal docs obtained by TMZ show the initial witness list put together by state prosecutors ... and it includes four people who have previously accused the actor of sexual misconduct.
One witness claims Timothy sexually assaulted her when she was 16 years old and auditioning for him at B Street Theatre in Sacramento, CA. Prosecutors say her father will also testify. The theater, which was founded by Timothy, told us the alleged incident happened about 25 years ago.
Timothy Busfield was free as a bird Wednesday for the first time since surrendering to cops last week ... and we have pics of him after his release.
"The West Wing" actor was draped in all black, carrying a bottled water as he walked without the shackles or armed guards we'd grown accustomed to seeing him with since January 13, when he turned himself in on child sex abuse charges.
Busfield was picked up by a limo from his posh New Mexico Airbnb -- $750 a night -- and was joined by a member of his legal team.
His wife, Melissa Gilbert, was also snapped, waving goodbye to him from the doorway of the castle-looking estate.
Timothy Busfield is firing back in his child sex abuse case, slamming prosecution witnesses for being unreliable with documented histories of fraud and financial exploitation, according to new court documents obtained by TMZ.
Busfield filed his opposition to the prosecution's motion to keep him behind bars during the pretrial stages of his New Mexico criminal case on Friday night. As you know, prosecutors have charged him with child abuse and criminal sexual contact of a minor.
In his filing, Busfield blasted prosecutors for asking the judge to imprison him "based on a story that has already collapsed under independent scrutiny."
The new allegation of sexual abuse against the embattled Timothy Busfield is from an alleged incident that happened a quarter century ago ... TMZ has learned.
Here's the deal ... prosecutors in New Mexico revealed Wednesday a new allegation against Timothy had come to light ... a man told cops his daughter was sexually abused by Timothy when she was 16 years old and auditioning for him at B Street Theatre in Sacramento, CA.
Timothy founded the theater back in the day, but the theater is distancing themselves from Timothy now ... and they tell us he hasn't been involved in the organization since 2001, when the alleged incident occurred.
