Britney Spears' Lawyer Likened Her Mental Capacity to Comatose Patient

Britney Spears lacks the mental capacity to sign a sworn declaration in her conservatorship case ... and her own lawyer compared her inability to sign a document to a comatose patient.

There was a hearing Wednesday in Britney's conservatorship case ... it was routine at first, but then the judge started asking questions about Britney wanting a co-conservator of her estate, to work alongside Jamie Spears.

Britney's lawyer, Sam Ingham, had been conveying Britney's feelings about the conservatorship to the court, and they got into a discussion as to whether all of that was inadmissible hearsay.

The judge asked Ingham if Britney would sign a declaration so there'd be a first-hand account of her feelings. Ingham said Britney lacked the capacity to sign a declaration, and likened her to a comatose patient. He was not saying she is comatose by any means, but he used it by way of example to show she was not capable of signing a legal document. Ingham said even comatose patients can have their lawyers speak for them.

The lawyers and the judge started discussing whether hearsay regarding Britney's feelings were admissible, but the judge put the matter over to another day.

As you know, there's a social media movement to free Britney from her conservatorship, but her own lawyer telegraphed that she's not able to do some fairly basic things.