Report: Shilo Sanders’ lawyers file motion to limit evidence in $11.89 million bankruptcy trial

Lawyers for former Colorado defensive back Shilo Sanders recently filed several motions under seal to limit the evidentiary scope in his upcoming bankruptcy trial, according to USA Today. Both motions reportedly center around the younger Sanders’ disciplinary history as a minor in Texas, when he assaulted a high school security guard in 2015.

The 26-year-old Sanders, who briefly participated in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ preseason camp after going unselected in the 2025 NFL Draft, filed for bankruptcy in 2023 and is set for trial scheduled for Aug. 31, per USA Today. Sanders — the third of Colorado head coach Deion Sanders‘ five children — is seeking to wipe out more than $11 million in debt and avoid paying out on a nearly $12 million default judgment stemming from the 2015 assault of Texas high school security guard John Darjean.

The legal requests filed by Sanders’ attorneys are known as “motions in limine,” which are pretrial motions requesting the judge limit the scope and evidence of what is allowed at trial to prevent potential irrelevant or inflammatory information from influencing the outcome, per USA Today. The two requests concern Sanders’ “prior and subsequent disciplinary history” and his “time at the Letot Juvenile Detention Facility” in Dallas, according to court records reviewed by USA Today.

The bankruptcy proceeding itself stems from Sanders losing a judgment in 2022 after allegedly assaulting a security guard as a high schooler in 2015. A suit filed in Dallas District Court in 2016 alleged the security guard, Darjean, “sustained severe and permanent injuries including a broken neck, damage to his cervical spine, permanent neurological injuries and irreversible incontinence,” according to a 2024 filing in the bankruptcy proceedings. 

These injuries were allegedly caused when Sanders elbowed and continued to assault Darjean during the 2015 altercation. Sanders lost the judgment when it went to trial in 2022, but failed to appear. The court subsequently awarded Darjean an $11.89 million judgment against Sanders after finding he had committed assault and battery.

“On September 17, 2015, Shilo Sanders did in fact cause physical harm and injuries to John Darjean by assaulting him,” the court stated, according to USA Today. “The Court finds that Shilo Sanders’ actions were the proximate cause of John Darjean’s injuries/damages. The Court further finds that Shilo Sanders’ actions were a substantial factor in bringing about the physical and mental injuries sustained by John Darjean, without which such injuries and damages would not have occurred.”

— On3’s Nick Kosko contributed to this report.