DENVER — Shilo Sanders’ fight over an $11.89 million judgment took a dramatic turn Thursday, Sept. 3, when creditor John Darjean collapsed in apparent pain after more than two hours of testimony at Sanders’ bankruptcy trial and was taken to a hospital by ambulance.
Darjean, 50, was released from the hospital later Thursday but did not return to court that day. His collapse came on Day 4 of a trial that could determine whether Sanders can use bankruptcy to discharge the massive judgment stemming from a 2015 confrontation at his school.
The medical emergency was the day’s most striking development, but the financial stakes remain unchanged: the $11.89 million judgment already exists. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michael Romero must decide whether Sanders can escape that debt through bankruptcy.
Why does Shilo Sanders owe John Darjean $11.89 million?
The dispute dates to Sept. 17, 2015, when Sanders was 15 and Darjean was working as a security guard at his school in Dallas.
Darjean says a confrontation began when he attempted to confiscate Sanders’ phone. He alleges Sanders struck him with an elbow near the neck and delivered two additional punches, aggravating a previous spinal injury.
Sanders tells a sharply different story. He testified that Darjean grabbed and choked him, caused him to black out and made him hit his head. Sanders said he did not strike Darjean and photographed marks on his own arms and neck afterward.
Darjean sued in 2016 and obtained an $11.89 million default judgment in Texas in 2022 after Sanders did not appear for the trial.
Darjean’s health takes center stage
Darjean says the 2015 encounter worsened existing spinal problems and left him dealing with chronic pain, nerve damage, incontinence, additional spinal surgeries and other complications.
Sanders attorney Victor Vital questioned whether some of those problems predated the incident, including degenerative disc disease. Judge Romero stopped part of that questioning because causation of Darjean’s injuries is not the issue being retried in the current proceeding.
The court previously heard prerecorded testimony from physician Michael Phillips addressing the legitimacy of Darjean’s medical problems and extensive cervical-spine treatment.
Darjean was taken to a hospital following the original 2015 confrontation. Four days later, an ambulance found him lying on his dining-room floor in distress, according to a report presented in court. Darjean testified that he was hospitalized and underwent emergency surgery, describing his pain at the time as an “11” out of 10.
Police report and Shilo Sanders’ account differ
A police report presented by Darjean’s attorneys categorized the 2015 incident as an assault involving serious bodily injury and identified Sanders as the suspect.
Vital pointed to a discrepancy: the report did not mention the two punches Darjean now says occurred in addition to the elbow strike. Darjean responded that he was in severe pain when the information was recorded.
Because Sanders was a minor, public records do not reveal the ultimate disposition of that police matter. Court records cited in reporting on the case show Sanders was taken to a juvenile facility the next day following a separate school incident.
Sanders testified that he could not recall whether he filed a police report against Darjean or sought medical treatment after the confrontation despite alleging that Darjean attacked him.
Key witness faces contradiction over choking claim
Ruda Nash James, an administrator at the school in 2015, testified Thursday that she saw Darjean choking Sanders.
Darjean attorney Ori Raphael then played a recorded call between James and Sanders’ mother, Pilar Sanders, from the day of the incident. When Pilar asked whether James saw Darjean’s hand around Shilo’s neck, James said she did not see “the neck part.”
James said she did not know the context behind the difference. She also confirmed Sanders’ law firm was paying for her travel and lodging for the Denver trial, while saying that did not affect her testimony.
HughesNet Chapter 11 Bankruptcy: What Customers Need to Know
Why bankruptcy may not erase the $11.89 million
The key legal question is whether Sanders can discharge Darjean’s judgment in bankruptcy.
Darjean argues the debt resulted from a “willful and malicious injury,” which can be excluded from discharge under Section 523 of federal bankruptcy law. Sanders maintains he never struck Darjean and was instead the victim.
If Romero finds that the legal requirements for the exception are satisfied, the nearly $12 million obligation could survive Sanders’ bankruptcy.
Deion Sanders will not testify
Deion Sanders had been expected to remain available to testify remotely on the trial’s final day. Romero released the Colorado coach from that requirement Thursday after determining his testimony was unnecessary.
The timing coincided with Colorado opening its football season against Georgia Tech. Interest surrounding that matchup has also focused on Fernando Mendoza and his football family connections.
What happens after the courtroom collapse?
Darjean’s hospitalization does not change the legal test facing the court. Romero must weigh the competing testimony, earlier statements and documentary evidence under the applicable preponderance-of-the-evidence standard.
The broader Sanders family remains prominent across football, including Shilo’s brother Shedeur and other major developments around the NFL calendar such as the 49ers’ high-profile arrival in Melbourne.
For Shilo Sanders, however, the immediate stakes are financial and potentially long-lasting: whether bankruptcy can eliminate the $11.89 million judgment or whether Darjean retains the right to pursue the debt after the bankruptcy case ends.
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