AKM-GSIThe question running through most people's minds right now presumably is, "Oh, Amanda Bynes, what happened?!"
Well, that's a loaded question, but here's what we know:
The 28-year-old starlet, who seemed to be healthily rebounding after a slew of legal troubles and other issues culminated in a nearly six-month hospitalization last year, was arrested very early Sunday morning on suspicion of driving under the influence. According to authorities, it was determined at the California Highway Patrol West Valley Office that she was under the influence of a yet-to-be-revealed controlled substance.
"Amanda was displaying symptoms that led us to believe she may have been under the influence of a stimulant," a CHP spokesperson tells E! News. "It possibly could be a combination of a stimulant and other drugs. We do not know."
Bynes was released on $15,000 bail, but since she's still in the middle of a three-year summary probation sentence stemming from her 2012 DUI, will her freedom be short-lived?
"As far as the criminal case is concerned, she is facing the real possibility of jail time," criminal defense attorney Troy Slaten tells E! News. "If she is convicted of a second-offense DUI, the law requires a minimum of 96 hours (or four days) of jail." (Slaten does not, nor has ever, represented Bynes or been involved in any of her cases.)
Bynes had moved back in with her parents after being released from treatment, but the temporary conservatorship that had given them control over her affairs expired on Sept. 10, and sources confirm to E! News that she moved out of her folks' house several months ago. She was living closer to Irvine, Calif., where she'd been attending school at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising.
We had been told back in July that she was apartment-hunting.
Slaten says that Bynes' second DUI arrest would "100 percent, absolutely" be considered a probation violation.
"I wouldn't be surprised because of the recency of the prior DUI that they would be looking for 60 days in jail [for this offense]," he added. "The max on a second offense is a year, but the max on a probation violation is six months in jail. The judge is going to think, 'whatever we did before wasn't enough to send you a message' so they are going to be more severe."
Bynes pleaded no contest to the lesser charge of "wet reckless" in February for the 2012 DUI arrest and was sentenced to three years' summary probation and a three-month alcohol-education program. At the time, she was already serving a three-year probation sentence for driving with a suspended license.
—Reporting by Baker Machado, Holly Passalaqua and Claudia Rosenbaum