Amanda Bynes Case: Judge Delays Decision to Grant Parents Legal Control

A judge in Oxnard, Calif., is taking extra precautions before handing over legal control of Amanda Bynes's life to her parents. 

Ventura County Superior Court Judge Glen M. Reiser stated that, because the actress is currently under a 14-day psychiatric holdafter a reported driveway-burning incident, an emergency decision wasn't necessary. 

Rick, 68, and Lynn Bynes, 66, appeared somber as they attended the Friday hearing along with their attorney Tamar Arminak, who stated that the reason for the conservatorship application was because the parents feared their daughter would be released following her three-day hold. 

Reiser set a new hearing for Aug. 9, when he hopes Amanda would be present in court, facilitated by her court-appointed attorney, Mary Shea. 
"I need to have a dialogue with [the actress] to gauge the propriety of a conservatorship to move forward," Reiser said. "There are issues of liberty and property." 

It appears the actress's parents have limited access to their daughter in the hospital because Arminak told the judge the facility forbade them from giving formal notice to the actress of the conservatorship application. 

Legal experts say that even though an adult is having a psychiatric episode, if the patient does not sign a consent to allow family members to get involved, a hospital by law must honor the patient's privacy. 

In the meantime, the judge ordered a routine court investigation of the case, which includes a formal report from Bynes's doctors. 

Bynes's parents and their lawyer had no immediate comment.