The woman accused of stalking Lindsey Buckingham for years and claiming the Fleetwood Mac guitarist is her biological father was declared incompetent to stand trial on Thursday, following a court-ordered mental health evaluation conducted while she remained in custody.
Los Angeles County Mental Health Court Judge Robert S. Harrison delivered the ruling directly to defendant Michelle Dick during a morning session, telling her plainly that she was not currently capable of participating in her own defense.
The judge also determined that medicating Dick for her psychiatric condition would be medically appropriate, a finding that came after reviewing an evaluation submitted by a court-appointed physician who assessed her behind bars. Dick appeared in the courtroom dressed in a yellow-and-blue jail uniform, restrained at the waist, as Harrison set the next hearing date for Aug. 27.
At that proceeding, the court will weigh two possible paths forward: whether pursuing treatment aimed at restoring Dick's competency serves the interests of justice, or whether she instead qualifies for a mental health diversion program that could ultimately result in her charges being dropped if she completes it successfully.
Dick, 55, faces six felony counts and one misdemeanor stemming from allegations that she struck Buckingham with a vehicle and threw an unknown substance at him as part of what prosecutors describe as a stalking pattern stretching back several years. She was taken into custody in Indiana this past April after allegedly cornering the musician in Santa Monica on March 25, an encounter prosecutors say violated an active restraining order.
Following her arrest, authorities extradited her to California, where she entered a not-guilty plea to all seven charges on May 6. According to an amended criminal complaint, prosecutors allege Dick engaged in a pattern of following Buckingham and initiating unwanted contact with him between October 2021 and late March of this year.
The most serious allegations center on March 19, when prosecutors claim Dick used her vehicle to assault Buckingham and separately vandalized his Mercedes-Benz S450, scrawling graffiti and other markings across the luxury sedan.
Less than a week later, on March 25, investigators allege Dick located Buckingham in Santa Monica, hurled a substance at the 76-year-old musician, and then fled the scene before officers arrived. Buckingham was not physically harmed in the encounter.
The legal saga traces back to November 2024, when Buckingham first petitioned for protection from Dick after accusing her of "swatting" his family's home, a claim supported by court records alleging Dick phoned 911 and falsely reported an active shooting at the Brentwood residence, triggering a heavy police response. The following month, a judge granted Buckingham's request, issuing a five-year restraining order that required Dick to remain at least 100 yards from him, his wife, and his son, while also prohibiting any contact with their residences or vehicles.
Buckingham's own court filings describe a separate encounter in which police stopped Dick and questioned her, capturing the exchange on body-worn camera. According to those filings, Dick launched into an unprompted account of Buckingham being her father and having suffocated her during childhood.
Buckingham's decades-long career includes a pivotal chapter that began in 1974, when he joined Fleetwood Mac alongside Stevie Nicks, his romantic and musical partner from the duo Buckingham Nicks.
During his tenure with the band, he penned and performed several of its signature tracks, most notably "Go Your Own Way." His run with Fleetwood Mac came to an end in 2018 amid reported friction over scheduling conflicts tied to a planned world tour.
