Amanda Bynes not mentally fit to stand trial

Amanda Bynes is not mentally fit to stand trial, according to her lawyer.

The Hairspray star was due in a Los Angeles court on Tuesday (24Sep13) to face driving under the influence charges from April 2012, but her attorney, Richard Hutton, explained to the judge she did not have the mental capacity to understand the nature of the legal proceedings.

The judge turned the case over to a mental health court, where another legal official will determine her mental competency, according to TMZ.com.

Tuesday's court date was related to an arrest last year, when she was charged with driving under the influence after allegedly side-swiping a police car in California.

She has been under doctors' care since July (13), when she was hospitalised under a mental health evaluation hold after reportedly starting a small fire on a driveway in her parents' Thousand Oaks neighbourhood of California.

Bynes' parents filed for conservatorship of their daughter's affairs shortly after she was institutionalised, and in August (13) her mother was granted temporary control over her legal and financial matters.