NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Brooke Harlan has posted videos on YouTube of herself in a helicopter searching for those who violated their bond conditions, but what happens when that person drives up to their front door?
Turns out, nothing.
Nashville judges now want answers over Rivers’ release on June 24 from the Davidson County Jail and the days leading to his arrest in Mississippi for the murder of Lauren Johansen.
A six-judge panel has scheduled an evidentiary hearing for Aug. 15, where representatives from Brooke’s Bail Bonding and On Time Bonding are expected to give testimony.
The courts are also requesting receipts, documents, emails and photographic evidence of what these companies knew before Rivers left for Mississippi.
Each of these companies could face suspension or the ability to write bonds in Davidson County, depending on what the panel decides.
That’s not taking into consideration any possible criminal liability these companies may face.
The order filed by the courts Tuesday morning, requests these companies explain what happened with Rivers’ release:
“…because it appears to the court that certain irregularities may have accompanied the posting of bond and release of the defendant in this matter.”
Harlan sent the following statement to NewsChannel 5 Investigates:
"I'm welcoming the hearing and looking forward to the truth and REAL facts being presented in the said hearing. There has been a lot of misinformation in conjunction with flat out lies that have been put out there and I'm looking forward to setting the record straight as EVERYONE deserves to know the truth."
Last week we shared an image with NewsChannel 5 legal analyst Nick Leonardo who said it raised serious questions over how Rivers bond conditions were handled.
Harlan told NewsChannel 5 Investigates that the image shows Rivers leaving their parking lot while driving Johansen’s car – with Lauren in the passenger seat.
“If they did have that knowledge, that’s a violation of the court order that was signed by their agent in open court,” Leonardo said.
The order from Judge Cheryl Blackburn on June 5 made it clear that Rivers must wear a GPS device installed by Tracking Solutions, he cannot leave the county and must have no contact with Johansen.
What happened in Nashville?
Metro Nashville Police had initially charged Rivers with two counts of aggravated kidnapping after they found Rivers lying on top of Johansen in a parked car last December.
She was covered in blood from a cut to her forehead and her eye was swollen shut.
Johansen was later taken to a nearby hospital and treated for multiple injuries.
Judge Blackburn then lowered Rivers' bond from $250,000 to $150,000 in April, but Rivers wasn’t released until the bond was posted on June 24.
Brooke's Bail Bonding and On Time Bonding split the cost of Rivers' $150,000 bond.
Court officials later acknowledged that an error by one of their clerks meant the Davidson County Jail did not have Rivers' bond conditions when he was released.
That meant Rivers' walked out of jail without supervision before calling Brooke's Bail Bonding himself.
Jail records show Rivers was released from the Davidson County Jail later than the order requested, so Harlan hired Freedom Monitoring for GPS services instead.
The same company is run by her employee, Nakeda Wilhoite.
Wilhoite would go on to send a letter to Judge Blackburn claiming she was unaware of the judge's conditions for release at the time she installed his ankle monitor but insisted she set up "zones" for Rivers' device on June 28 when she learned of the order.
“If those exclusion zones were set up, did the technology fail? Or is that just an outright lie as to when you set up those exclusion zones? I mean, that’s a real problem,” Leonardo said.
This was four days after she had already installed Rivers' GPS device.
“The bonding company has a ton of liability because clearly, they were aware of the conditions. It says on that order where this defendant is going to be living in Davidson County and that he’s not to leave,” Leonardo said.
Wilhoite called Rivers that same day and told him to return so she could replace his GPS device.
Rivers showed up to Brooke’s Bail Bonding, supposedly with Johansen, and Leonardo said Rivers should have been placed under arrest.
Instead, just four days later, Johansen’s body was found in her car seven hours away in Mississippi.
Rivers was charged that same day with Johansen’s murder and now sits in a Mississippi jail on $1 million bond.
Harlan has told NewsChannel 5 Investigates on multiple occasions that she has plenty of evidence to share, but she never showed up for multiple attempts at a sit-down interview.
I also reached out to Wilhoite who said her attorney would contact NewsChannel 5 Investigates, but we never heard from an attorney.
