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Amanda Bynes Arrested for DUI; Drugged Driving Alleged

By Daniel Taylor, Esq. on September 30, 2014 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Troubled actress Amanda Bynes is facing fresh DUI charges after running a red light in front of a California Highway Patrol officer this weekend.

The actress was driving alone in her 2013 Mercedes SUV at 3:30 AM Sunday morning when she allegedly ran the red light and stopped in the middle of the intersection, reports the New York Daily News. A CHP officer who observed the incident conducted a series of field sobriety tests on Bynes.

Spoiler alert: She didn't pass.

Suspected of Drug DUI

According to a CHP spokesman, Bynes was given a drug evaluation and was unable to complete a series of hand-eye coordination tasks, leading the officer to suspect she was driving under the influence of drugs.

Unlike alcohol DUIs in which a driver's level of intoxication may be measured by testing the driver's blood alcohol concentration, the level of impairment of a drug DUI suspect may be more difficult to determine. In Bynes' case, the CHP spokesman told the New York Daily News that authorities were waiting for the results of toxicology tests, which could take from 30 to 60 days to be completed.

Previous DUI Arrest

Complicating matters for Bynes -- in the event that she is charged with DUI -- are her copious legal troubles over the past few years, including a DUI arrest in 2012. In that case, Bynes eventually pleaded to the lesser charge of wet reckless, receiving three years of probation.

Following her 2012 arrest, Bynes was diagnosed with schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder, but was nevertheless found mentally competent to stand trial. In addition to avoiding being charged with DUI in the 2012 incident, Bynes also managed to have reckless endangerment and marijuana possession charges against her dismissed in New York. The charges stemmed from a 2013 incident in which police officers reportedly saw Bynes throw a bong out of her 36th floor apartment window.

According to the Daily News, after being released from an in-patient psychiatric treatment facility last year, Bynes moved in with her parents, but had recently moved out. If this DUI arrest is any indication, that decision may have been a tad premature.

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