A Los Angeles judge has set a pre-trial date for Amanda Bynes' driving under the influence (Dui) charge for next month (Feb14).

The embattled Hairspray star is facing punishment for an arrest in April, 2012, when she was busted for allegedly side-swiping a police car in California.

The case was delayed last summer (13) when Bynes was hospitalised for a mental health evaluation following weeks of erratic behaviour, and at the time, her lawyer Richard Hutton argued his client did not have the mental capacity to understand the nature of the legal proceedings.

However, she was declared fit to stand trial in November (13), and now Los Angeles County Judge Edward Moreton, Jr. has ruled the misdemeanour case will move forward with a pre-trial hearing on 20 February (14).

Representatives for Bynes, who has pleaded not guilty, have yet to comment on the latest development in the case, but sources tell the New York Daily News that prosecutors are working with the defendant's legal team to work out a plea deal which would keep the 27 year old out of jail.

Bynes, who has been placed under the temporary conservatorship of her mother, Lynn, was discharged from a mental health facility in early December (13) and is currently recuperating at her parents' home in California.

The Dui charge isn't the actress' only legal concern - she is also facing counts in a separate case, following a police raid on her New York apartment last May (13). She stands accused of reckless endangerment, tampering with evidence and possessing marijuana after reportedly throwing a bong out of her window.