Brown estate hearing is pushed back to Sept. 9

AIKEN --- Despite a settlement in the case, the court battle in the estate of the late entertainer James Brown will continue in Aiken County at least into next month.

A court hearing in the case scheduled for Thursday has been postponed until 2:30 p.m. Sept. 9 at the Aiken County Courthouse, an attendant in Circuit Judge Jack Early's office said Tuesday. The worker said she wasn't sure why the hearing was being rescheduled, and the purpose of the hearing hasn't been made public.

In May, Judge Early approved a settlement on the estate that favored family members, including Mr. Brown's last wife and young son, and allowed for the creation of a museum or other memorial to the soul singer.

In June, former estate trustees Adele Pope and Robert Buchanan filed a motion for Judge Early to reconsider his approval of the settlement, but the judge quickly turned down the request.

Ms. Pope and Mr. Buchanan, who had said in court testimony that they would appeal the settlement's approval, have since done so, filing paperwork for a challenge last month with the South Carolina Court of Appeals, an official there confirmed Tuesday.

Paperwork also filed at the Aiken County Courthouse doesn't list reasons for the appeal, but it shows that Ms. Pope and Mr. Buchanan oppose the settlement and Judge Early's appointment of Columbia accountant Russell Bauknight as estate trustee.

Ms. Pope and Mr. Buchanan have argued that the settlement leaves out some essential parties, but family members have said it upholds Mr. Brown's legacy.

Mr. Brown, who grew up in Augusta and lived in nearby Beech Island, died on Christmas Day 2006 in an Atlanta hospital.

Reach Preston Sparks at (803) 648-1395, ext. 110, or preston.sparks@augustachronicle.com.