US:James Brown's widow said yesterday she was denied access to the home she shared with the singer and their five-year-old son, claiming the gate was padlocked at the request of his lawyer and accountant.
Tomi Rae Brown, who was one of James Brown's back-up singers, said that when she returned to their South Carolina home hours after her husband died of heart failure, security guards told her that Brown's lawyer, Buddy Dallas, and his accountant, David Cannon, had said she was not to be allowed inside.
She said she did not own the deed to the home, but had a legal right to live there. "This is my home," she said outside the gate of the house. "I don't have any money. I don't have anywhere to go."
The couple had had a tumultuous relationship since they married in December 2001. Brown pleaded guilty in 2004 to a domestic violence charge stemming from an argument with his wife and was let off with a $570 (€435) fine.
Mr Dallas said yesterday Ms Brown was locked out of the house for legal reasons: "It's not a reflection on her as an individual." - (AP)