A judge in Colorado bankruptcy court ruled on Thursday that Colorado head coach Deion Sanders must be available to potentially testify in the upcoming bankruptcy trial of his son, Shilo.
In a virtual hearing on Thursday, Judge Michael E. Romero informed Sanders’ attorney, Harvey Steinberg, that Sanders should make himself available virtually on the afternoon of Friday, Sept. 4, one day after Colorado plays its 2026 season opener on the road at Georgia Tech. Romero told Steinberg that Sanders must be available at 1:30 p.m. MT.
Steinberg initially asked if Sanders could be available virtually later in the day Friday, but Romero said it had to be earlier in the day because the trial, which is scheduled to begin Monday, is expected to last only five days. Colorado’s Thursday game in Atlanta kicks off at 8 p.m. ET.
However, it’s unlikely that Sanders will have to testify after Romero ruled that it would only be on a rebuttal-basis should Victor Vital, who is representing Shilo in the case, open the door to Sanders’ previous testimonies in a previous civil case. Steinberg told The Athletic after the virtual hearing Thursday that he does not expect Shilo’s defense team to revisit Deion Sanders’ previous testimonies.
In the virtual hearing Thursday, Vital informed Romero that he does not intend to go that route in next week’s trial.
Shilo Sanders is trying to discharge more than $11 million he owes to John Darjean after a 2022 default judgment in a Texas civil trial for which Shilo failed to appear. Darjean is a former high school security guard who sued Shilo Sanders following a physical altercation in 2015 when Shilo was 15. Darjean argued that the altercation left him with lifelong debilitating physical issues.
The lawyers representing Darjean recently attempted to subpoena Deion Sanders on the morning of Aug. 11 while the Buffaloes were participating in a preseason scrimmage on campus. Steinberg told The Athletic that Sanders was never physically served the papers and that he instead finally accepted them on behalf of Sanders on Thursday.
Colorado had no comment.
Romero said that Shilo Sanders’ trial would be open to the public and the transcripts would be publicly available.
