Lawyers of Amanda Bynes requested that the former child star's drunken driving case be referred to a mental-health court, according to the LA Times.
The troubled actress did not appear in court, but her lawyer argued that Bynes was not capable of understanding the proceedings, according to TMZ, which first reported the news. "The mental health court will examine Bynes and determine her competency to stand trial," attorney Richard Hutton told E! News. Bynes was arrested on suspicion of DUI in West Hollywood in April 2012 after she allegedly clipped the rear corner of a sheriff's deputy's cruiser while trying to pass it around 3 a.m. near Robertson and Santa Monica boulevards.
That arrest was part of a series of vehicle-related problems Bynes then encountered before moving to New York, where her odd behavior and odder Twitter blurts initially made her the focus of many a snarky blog post. Her situation took a darker turn in July after she was put on involuntary psychiatric hold after lighting a small fire in the driveway of a house in Thousand Oaks. What was first a 72-hour hold was extended to two weeks, then 30 days, then reportedly up to a year.
Bynes' mother has a temporary conservatorship over her daughter with regard to the 27-year-old's well-being and personal finances. Bynes' next scheduled court date in the DUI case is Jan. 7. Bynes starred in movies like Easy A, Sydney White, Hairspray, She's the Man, What a Girl Wants and a whole lot more.
