JAMES BROWN - FORMER JAMES BROWN TRUSTEES CLAIM FOUL PLAY

LATEST: Two former trustees of JAMES BROWN's estate have accused the judge handling a dispute over the late soul man's finances of forcing them to resign. Trustee Alford Bradley and Brown's former close friend, Buddy Dallas, both quit during a court hearing last month (20Nov07), shortly after David Cannon, another estate manager, was held in contempt for failing to pay $373,000 (GBP186,500) to the trust. Brown's six adult children have been fighting with the trustees since their father died on Christmas Day (25Dec06), and administrators looking into the handling of Brown's estate previously claimed Cannon may have misappropriated a $7 million (GBP3.5 million) chunk of the star's fortune. But both Bradley and Dallas are now looking to retract their resignations, after filing court papers in South Carolina on Tuesday (04Dec07) accusing Circuit Judge Jack Early of using "improper judicial influence". A representative for Early has yet to respond to the allegations.