James Brown was charged with spousal abuse at least three times during their 10-year marriage, but those charges were dropped. Adrienne Brown met Kay Mixon after a beating she received on Halloween night in 1995. Those charges were dropped when Adrienne Brown died January 6, 1996.
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In September 1988, Brown carried a shotgun into an insurance seminar, briefly held it hostage, and then led police on a multi-state highway chase, for which Brown was fined $6,000 and sentenced to 6 years in prison. He was paroled after two years.
Months before that incident, Brown was charged with assault and intent to kill after being accused of savagely beating Adrienne Brown with a mop handle and firing a rifle into the car she was driving. Adrienne Brown later dropped those charges.