Shilo Sanders’ bankruptcy case will go on trial on August 31. But even before that, the former Colorado safety received some pretrial updates in the matter, and the results were mixed.

According to USA Today, Judge Michael Romero held a private hearing on July 14 regarding issues related to Shilo Sanders’ August 31 bankruptcy trial. Although the hearing was private, the court filed a summary of the rulings a day later.

According to the rulings, Shilo asked the judge to limit evidence relating to his previous and subsequent disciplinary records. Since it was a 2015 incident, his request meant that the court excluded evidence gathered before and after 2015 that could be used against him during his trial. Unfortunately, his request was denied. His other request, to have the judge shorten the inquiry time frame at his trial, was also denied.

“The Court will address specific objections relating to the evidence addressed in these Motions after the parties have completed designations of deposition testimony or at trial,” said the order signed by Romero.

The essence of the private hearing was for Shilo Sanders to make these requests ahead of the trial. Shilo also requested that possible expert testimony for the security guard, John Darjean, be excluded. In response, the judge partly granted and denied this request. The judge ruled out possible expert testimony but only permitted it on one ground: “on the issue of whether reasonable force was used in rebuttal to (Sanders’) self-defense arguments,” per USA Today.

With efforts put in place to have his debt discharged on August 31, Sanders made requests regarding his time at the Letot juvenile detention facility in Texas, just after the incident. With injuries from Shilo’s alleged attack, Darjean was taken to the hospital, while Shilo was taken to the juvenile center the next day for another case. As a result, he requested that the records containing “party admissions” be admissible, which, in theory, includes statements made by Shilo at the time.

Shilo was sued in 2016, with Darjean accusing him of assault and causing permanent injuries when he tried to confiscate his phone at school. Shilo claimed self-defense and was absent at the 2022 trial, which induced an $11.89 million default judgment against him.

The former Colorado safety is aiming to discharge all of this debt through bankruptcy. It is very possible for debtors to have debts discharged through bankruptcy, but one of the rare cases where this is impossible is when the debt stems from a “willful and malicious injury.” This will be the bone of contention at the trial on August 31. If the court finds it to be a willful and malicious injury, Shilo will remain in debt.

The 2015 incident between Shilo Sanders and the security guard

The incident happened in 2015, when a 15-year-old Shilo had an altercation with his school’s security guard, Darjean. At Triple A Academy in Dallas, Darjean attempted to confiscate Shilo’s cellphone, prompting Shilo to fight back. The confrontation between the two allegedly caused spinal and neurological damage to the security guard.

In 2016, Darjean filed a civil lawsuit in Dallas District Court against Shilo Sanders, seeking damages for permanent injuries. However, the Texas court entered a default judgment when Shilo’s representatives failed to appear at trial. But before Darjean’s lawyers could appoint a receiver to start seizing Shilo’s assets, the latter filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Colorado. Now, we are in the final stages before a decision on whether the $11.89 million could be discharged.