Judges rule bonding companies made mistakes, broke no rules in Mississippi man’s release in Nashville before victim’s murder

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - A six-judge panel in Davidson County has ruled that two bonding companies made mistakes but did not break any rules in the release of a Mississippi man in Nashville before he allegedly murdered his ex-girlfriend.

In the ruling, the judges ruled that during the hearing in mid-August, none of the testimonies established that either bonding company, Brooke’s Bail Bonding and On Time Bail Bonding, broke any rules in the release of Bricen Rivers.

Rivers is accused of murdering 22-year-old Lauren Johansen in Mississippi after he was released. He was in a Nashville jail for months and charged with aggravated kidnapping after the two got into a brutal fight on a trip to Music City.

Brooke’s Bail Bonding and On Time Bail Bonding are the two companies that bonded Rivers out.

“Obviously a calamity of human and institutional errors occurred in the release process of the Defendant,” the ruling reads. “Bonding agents signed bond release orders sight unseen. The Criminal Court Clerk’s office failed to send the full and complete bond condition order, which has now been rectified per testimony. However, the bonding companies did not act appropriately by not following that court order.”

The judges added that while mistakes were made, the alleged criminal actions lie with Rivers. You can read the entire ruling below:

In July, the Davidson County Criminal Court Clerk’s Office admitted to making a mistake that may have cost Johansen her life. The clerk’s office told WSMV4 they signed off on a document allowing Rivers to get out of jail without ensuring he had an ankle monitor.

Chief Deputy Clerk, Julius Sloss, admitted one of their employees overlooked a major part of Rivers’ release and the county clerk’s office wanted to own up to it.

“It’s the truth,” Sloss said. “We don’t have anything to hide. I mean if we were the ones who made a mistake on something we are going to be the first to tell you. That’s an obligation, that’s a duty.”

Usually, when the clerk’s office gives release forms to the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office, they have the court order included or attached to show what should be done before letting people go.

“In this particular incident our employee made the mistake where he did the recognizance part right, but when he sent the release over, the release unfortunately did not contain the conditions of the bond,” Sloss explained.

That means the Sheriff’s Office did not know Rivers was supposed to stay in Davidson County or that his bond agent was to pick him up between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. to take him immediately to Tracking Solutions. It’s a company where Rivers should have gone to get an ankle monitor.

Instead, Rivers was released from the Harding Place jail on his own.

“We have talked to the employee about that, and he doesn’t know exactly how he missed it,” Sloss added.