LOS ANGELES (CNN) — Former Nickelodeon star Amanda Bynes is now a former defendant thanks to a plea deal Monday that resolved a drunken driving charge.
The actress must serve three years on probation, attend an alcohol education course and pay a fine after entering a no-contest plea to reckless driving, a court spokeswoman said. The DUI charge was dismissed in exchange for the plea.
The DUI charge was filed in June 2012 after Bynes’ BMW allegedly sideswiped a police cruiser in West Hollywood in April 2012. She picked up two hit-and-run cases in the next several months, along with a charge of driving with a suspended license. All of those charges were eventually dropped.
The DUI case was delayed while a doctor reported to the court on Bynes’ mental condition. It got back on the calendar in November when a judge found her to be mentally competent to stand trial.
A New York criminal case relating to an incident involving a bong allegedly tossed from her Manhattan apartment window was dropped last month.
The troubled 27-year-old actress spent four months in residential psychiatric care last year after a bizarre incident in a neighbor’s driveway last July. A judge placed her under an involuntary psychiatric hold which was extended at her parents’ request.
Bynes was released from a Malibu treatment center in December and now lives in the custody of her parents. He parents issued a statement at the time saying that she would continue outpatient treatment several times a week.
She was just 10 when she joined the cast of Nickelodeon “All That” in 1996. She was given her on variety show — “The Amanda Show” — in 1999.
