Cannon gets contempt charge
Judge frowns on failure to pay James Brown estate, other violations
By Johnny Edwards| Staff Writer
Annette M. Drowlette/Staff
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
James Brown's former accountant has been charged with contempt of court, and unless he forks over $433,000 he could be locked up in a state prison for six months.
David Cannon: Former accountant for James Brown is accused of mishandling $7 million, and won't say where it went.
David Cannon said he doesn't have the money, so he'll probably be going to jail. He said the ongoing legal mess shows that the South Carolina judicial system is broken and that Mr. Brown's plans to educate needy children are being ruined by attorneys feeding at the trough.
"What Mr. Brown wanted is not going to happen, if they have their way," Mr. Cannon told The Augusta Chronicle on Tuesday in a rare public statement. "His legacy is being destroyed."
According to a court order signed Tuesday by Aiken County Court of Common Pleas Judge Jack Early, Mr. Cannon is being punished because he:
- Did not pay $373,000 to Mr. Brown's estate, as ordered by the judge in September
- Did not keep his hands off the Brown estate, even after he had resigned as a trustee. He had filed amended tax returns for James Brown Enterprises.
- Did not turn over financial documents dating back to 1999. He turned in more than 35 boxes, taken from file cabinets boxed without indexes, later testifying that he had never done an accounting for probate purposes and didn't know what it involved, the order says.
Mr. Cannon has until Jan. 25 to pay the $373,000, plus $50,000 for attorneys' fees and a $10,000 fine. Otherwise, he can report to the Aiken County jail that day at 12:01 p.m., the judge ordered.
Mr. Cannon was one of three men the funk and soul performer designated to oversee his estate after he died. Mr. Cannon, Alfred "Judge" Bradley and attorney Buddy Dallas were to oversee two trusts -- one to school needy children, another to educate his grandchildren -- funded by proceeds from his music rights, legacy and persona.
Six heirs named in his will were to divide up his household belongings, but after their father's Christmas Day death, they petitioned Aiken County probate court to remove the three trustees, alleging that they mismanaged the estate.
All three men have since resigned, and the two South Carolina attorneys Judge Early named as special administrators to the estate -- Adele Pope and Bob Buchanan -- have become the new trustees. Mr. Dallas and Mr. Bradley, however, have retracted their resignations, saying the judge used "improper judicial influence" to intimidate them into quitting.
Mr. Cannon has been accused of mishandling $7 million of Mr. Brown's money, but he said Tuesday that his only mistake was misdirecting a $900,000 royalty check in July 2006.
The check should have gone to pay off a $26 million bond against future royalties that Mr. Brown took out in 1999, but Mr. Cannon said he placed it in Mr. Brown's trust fund.
Judge Early wants him to pay $373,000 toward the balance. When he told the judge in November that he didn't have the money, the judge expressed doubt because
Mr. Cannon had recently paid a contractor $866,000 to build a home in Honduras and had purchased the lot for $223,000.
Mr. Cannon said that money came from the sale of "another property" and it's his wife's money. He said he offered the court a second mortgage on his South Carolina beach property but was refused.
Mr. Cannon would not address questions from The Chronicle about where the bulk of Mr. Brown's money went.
Judge Early's order says he "does not find David Cannon credible," based on the Honduras contract and his earnings during the past seven years. He made more than $1 million in 2006 and no less than $169,000 a year since 2000.
"Their minds are already made up before they even ask the questions," Mr. Cannon said. "They've had all these accusations, but nobody's even looked at the books."
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/121907/met_17340.shtml
