A verdict in the bankruptcy trial of Deion Sanders’ son Shilo likely will be delayed until January or later after the judge in the case granted a request by Sanders’ $12-million creditor to push back the deadlines for final written arguments.
A verdict previously was expected sometime after Nov. 16, the last deadline for final written briefs in a case that will determine whether Shilo Sanders can discharge $12 million in debt.
But Judge Michael E. Romero pushed that deadline back to Dec. 21 after the man who is owed all that money from Sanders requested more time. His request came because a transcript of the trial from Aug. 31 to Sept. 4 has taken longer than expected to produce.
The previous “schedule anticipated that the transcripts would be available about three weeks after trial, with the understanding that it could be adjusted if they were delayed,” said the request from the creditor’s attorney, Ori Raphael. “The transcripts are delayed.”
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The judge granted the request this week, which means he won’t issue a verdict until after that Dec. 21 deadline or the holidays that come soon afterward.
Why hasn’t the judge issued a verdict yet?
Judge Romero wanted written closing arguments after the trial in Denver ended Sept. 4. He noted in a pretrial order that it is “the practice of this Court to request the parties to provide written closings, with legal authority and citations to the trial record.”
That can’t be done without the trial transcripts, which aren’t ready yet.
Why does Shilo Sanders have $12 million in debt?
Former Colorado football player Shilo Sanders owes $12 million to John Darjean, a former security guard at his school in Dallas. The debt stems from an incident at his school in 2015, when Darjean said Sanders assaulted him and caused him permanent injuries when he tried to confiscate his phone pursuant to school policy. Darjean sued Sanders in 2016 and won a $12 million default judgment against him in 2022 after the case went to trial and Shilo Sanders didn’t show up for it.
Sanders, now 26, then filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in an effort to free himself of that judgment. But Darjean is fighting for all he’s owed and sued him again to prevent the debt from being discharged. Darjean’s attorney argued the debt shouldn’t be discharged because it stems from a “willful and malicious injury,” which is a specific exception to debt discharges under bankruptcy law.
What was Shilo Sanders' bankruptcy trial about?
The five-day bankruptcy trial in Denver examined that key question: Was Shilo willful and malicious or not?
If the judge determines he was, Sanders would remain on the hook to Darjean to pay the whole debt. If the judge determines he wasn’t willful and malicious, Sanders could get out of the debt with relatively little damage to his bank account.
Sanders said it was Darjean who “choke-slammed” him and caused him to black out, even though it was Darjean who was taken to the hospital by ambulance that day, not Sanders.
Why does the judge want written closing arguments?
The judge explained the need for written closing arguments to the parties in the case before the trial in August.
“The reason we do that is because if there are written exhibits that have been admitted, I want you to tell me exactly what’s important about those written exhibits,” the judge said then.
It creates a paper trail of evidence and arguments that leads to careful consideration on his part. The downside is it takes longer, especially when the trial transcript is delayed.
“I know it’s a little more problematic or annoying ... but in the grand scheme of things, it frankly makes it a little easier to deal with,” the judge said in August.
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Verdict in Shilo Sanders' bankruptcy trial likely delayed to January or later