Amanda Bynes' Drunk Driving Case Moved to Mental Health Court

Attorney Richard Hutton argued that the
27-year-old former Nickelodeon star was
unable to stand trial in the case due to
doubts about her mental competence.
The drunk driving case against troubled
actress and former teenage star Amanda
Bynes has been moved to the mental
health court at the request of her
attorney, a Los Angeles judge ruled on
Tuesday.
Attorney Richard Hutton argued that the
27-year-old former Nickelodeon star was
unable to stand trial in the case due to
doubts about her mental competence.
Bynes has been under court-ordered
psychiatric care after she allegedly started
a small fire in front of a home in the Los
Angeles suburb of Thousand Oaks in July.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Edward
Moreton referred the case to the court's
mental health division where a judge will
decide if Bynes is fit for trial, the court
said.
Her drunk driving case stems from an
April 2012 incident in which she was
charged with driving under the influence
in West Hollywood. Police said Bynes
struck a sheriff's patrol car and refused to
take a sobriety test.
She pleaded not guilty last year to the
driving under the influence charge. Her
next court date is scheduled for January
7.
Bynes, who starred in her own sketch
comedy TV series "The Amanda Show" at
age 13, has become as famous for her
erratic behavior, brushes with the law and
odd postings on Twitter as she has for
acting.
Last month her mother, Lynn Bynes, was
granted temporary legal control of her
legal and financial affairs while she
undergoes psychiatric treatment.
Bynes, who is on probation in California
for driving on a suspended license, faces
charges in New York for marijuana
possession and throwing a glass bong out
of her 36th-floor Manhattan apartment.