It will be several months before the judge in Shilo Sanders’ bankruptcy case will deliver a ruling on whether the former CU football player acted willfully and maliciously during a 2015 incident at a Dallas school.
Judge Michael E. Romero heard closing arguments in Denver bankruptcy court on Friday, the last day of the five-day trial that could determine whether Sanders must pay former school security guard John Darjean $11.89 million owed from a previous civil case.
Romero said that he would give each side until mid-November to file their written closing statements and associated responses. Romero will then take time to review the case. After that, he will either issue a written opinion or schedule an oral ruling.
Former school security guard John Darjean said that the then 15-year-old Sanders assaulted him on Sept. 17, 2015, at a Dallas school and caused permanent injuries. Sanders had been taken to Focus Learning Academy’s disciplinary office for gambling – shooting dice – during a class, according to testimony during this week’s trial.
Darjean sued Sanders and was awarded $11.89 million in 2022.
Sanders filed for bankruptcy in 2023 and now hopes to discharge, or erase, the debt owed to Darjean. Romero will determine whether Sanders acted willfully and maliciously, because under U.S. bankruptcy law, debts resulting from a “willful and malicious injury” cannot be discharged by filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
In his closing argument, Sanders’ attorney Victor Vital pulled up two security videos from the incident. One video, with a view of the gym, where the altercation started, showed Darjean and Sanders interacting immediately before the altercation, until they moved out of the frame. The second video, with a view of the school’s front lobby, showed a very grainy, limited view of Sanders pressed up against the glass doors that lead into the gym.
No video of the gym foyer, where the incident mainly occurred, is available. Vital lined up the video clips in his closing argument and said there are about four seconds not covered by video. He argued that the timeline of the video clips doesn’t support Darjean’s account of what happened.
“We believe that the force with which Mr. Darjean slams Mr. Sanders into the glass is indicative of how fast they were moving through the space,” Vital said.
Darjean’s lawyer, Ori Raphael, argued that the witness testimony and records proved that Sanders acted willfully and maliciously that day. The witness testimony from those he called has remained the same for the past 10 years, he said, while the testimony of Sanders and Sanders’ attorneys brought has changed.
Raphael referenced former student Deaunte Lee’s testimony. Lee said Sanders was frustrated and angry immediately before the incident, saying “f— this” and “nobody gonna take my phone, I’ll beat your a–,” Lee testified. Former front desk clerk Saundra Haynes testified that she saw Sanders punch Darjean.
“These are all intentional acts against him (Darjean),” Raphael said. “… It was all to inflict some injury, some pain.”
Dana Hamilton, formerly the school’s attorney, testified to video surveillance she saw that showed Darjean did not act outside his scope as a security guard. Hamilton and other witnesses brought forward by Darjean’s lawyers testified to seeing a third security video of the altercation. Romero asked about the missing video during the trial. Raphael said he was unable to track down any third video, and Vital said he was unsure whether it existed.
During his testimony early Thursday, Darjean accused Deion Sanders, Shilo Sanders’ father, of stealing the missing third video, before Romero cut him off from speaking on the matter further. Darjean has that a former administrator at the school “stole” surveillance footage of the altercation and gave it to Deion Sanders.
Shilo Sanders’ team called witnesses Thursday afternoon.
Ruda James, the former principal of Focus Learning Academy, testified that Darjean attacked Sanders. “He was pushing Shilo into the glass window, and he was choking him,” James said.
Former physical education teacher Heiser Shields testified Thursday that Sanders was not disruptive, cursing or kicking or throwing chairs at any point, as Darjean and others had testified. Sanders was already sitting down outside of the school’s disciplinary office when Darjean approached him. When Sanders saw Darjean approach, he got up and walked away from him.
“He (Darjean) didn’t have to go and grab him (Sanders),” said Shields, who was leading an elementary school gym class at the time.
Shields saw Darjean take Sanders by the arm and saw Sanders yank his arm out of Darjean’s grip. Shields did not see the altercation after that because he was handling his students in the gym. When he saw the altercation again, Shields testified, Darjean was on top of Sanders. Shields said he then walked over to help Darjean get off Sanders.
The court on Deion Sanders to testify, after requiring that he be available virtually on Friday afternoon in case he was needed.
Darjean did not appear in court on Friday after he collapsed in the courtroom on Thursday after he finished his testimony and was taken to the hospital via ambulance. He was out of the hospital and resting in bed as of Friday morning, Raphael told the court. Darjean had taken several breaks throughout the trial due to back pain, back spasms and to take medication. Before he collapsed, he told the court his back pain was excruciating.
Shilo Sanders was present in the courtroom throughout the trial.
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