Multiple companies within Tennessee’s bail bond industry are being sued by the estate of Lauren Johansen, the 22-year-old who was allegedly murdered last year by her ex-boyfriend, Bricen Rivers, who was released from Davidson County Jail last year following a judge’s decision to reduce his bond, and then was allegedly fitted with an improperly programmed ankle monitor from a company that was never authorized to work with Rivers.
Representing Lauren Johansen’s estate, her father, Robert Johansen, filed the lawsuit last week in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, naming three bail bonding companies, their owners, and two insurance companies as defendants.
The lawsuit alleges that Brooke’s Bail Bonding, Freedom Monitoring Services LLC, and On Time Bail Bonding negligently allowed Rivers to be released from jail without a court-ordered ankle monitor. As a result of his after-hours release, the lawsuit alleges that Freedom Monitoring, which is owned by an employee of Brooke’s Bail Bonding, fitted Rivers with an incorrectly programmed monitor that did not alert authorities after he left Tennessee.
It notes that Rivers (pictured above) was released on the condition he remain within Davidson County, and that he have no contact with Lauren Johansen, but alleges that Rivers informed his bondsman that he returned to Mississippi, in violation of the terms of his release, upon his return to Brooke’s Bail Bonding to have the monitor adjusted.
According to the lawsuit, none of the defendants informed authorities in Tennessee or Mississippi after learning that Rivers left Davidson County.
The lawsuit accuses the defendants of causing Lauren Johansen’s wrongful death by failing to verify Rivers complied with bail conditions, and acting reckless, negligently, or maliciously by nonetheless facilitating his release. It also accuses the defendants of violating Johansen’s constitutional rights, claiming they displayed “deliberately indifferent conduct” through his release.
Johansen’s estate is seeking $50 million in compensatory damages, $100 million in punitive damages, and for the defendants to pay all costs related to the trial.
The death of Lauren Johansen was referenced in March, when the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference (TNDAGC) urged the General Assembly to pass a resolution calling for a constitutional amendment that would allow judges to deny bail in cases where the defendant is accused of murder, terrorism, aggravated rape, aggravated rape of a child, or any other crime which would require a prisoner complete 85 percent of their sentence before release.
Lawmakers ultimately passed the resolution, and the proposed amendment will go before voters next year.
“Tennessee’s district attorneys believe this is the singular most important bill to public safety that we have evaluated over the last 11 years,” said TNDAGC Executive Director Stephen Crump. “The people who do this every day, and see it and argue about this every day, believe it is incredibly important.”
Johansen’s father previously suggested former Davidson County Criminal Court Judge Cheryl Blackburn was to blame for Rivers’ release. Blackburn, now in her mid-70s, recently retired after 29 years on the bench.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
