Overview
- The five-day bankruptcy bench trial ended Friday, Sept. 4, with no immediate ruling and Judge Michael E. Romero reserving decision pending written submissions.
- Romero released Deion Sanders from his subpoena and determined the coach did not need to testify after the defense failed to open the door to his testimony.
- Plaintiff John Darjean collapsed in court after more than two hours of testimony, was taken to a hospital and later released but did not return to the proceedings.
- The trial featured sharply conflicting testimony, contemporaneous police and medical reports, two defense witnesses who changed earlier statements, and claims that a short, potentially decisive video segment is missing.
- The judge must now weigh whether the 2015 confrontation meets the legal standard of a "willful and malicious injury," which would bar discharge of the roughly $11.89 million default judgment entered in Texas in 2022 and could take months to resolve.