The Shilo Sanders bankruptcy trial ended last Friday. The decision, to be issued not by a jury but by the presiding judge, is pending.
One big issue in the case relates to the whereabouts of surveillance video of the altercation that led to the $11.89 million civil judgment that Shilo hopes to have discharged.
Via Brent Schrotenboer of USA Today, Judge Michael E. Romero is well aware of the missing footage.
“It just appears real obvious that there is some missing video that no one seems to have been able to find,” Judge Romero said during the trial.
There are breadcrumbs potentially leading to Shilo’s father, Deion Sanders. As noted by Schrotenboer, Deion testified about his ability to secure video of the incident during a prior deposition.
“I have no idea, but whoever it was, they weren’t gonna give me the video,” Sanders said. “I forgot who, someone slipped and gave, not slipped, but they manipulated and gave us the video. That’s how we got our hands on the video. It’s not like the school provided the video for us.”
Deion was asked whether this means someone got him the video on the “down low.”
“They did,” Deion said.
Judge Romero realizes the potential significance of the missing clip.
“The reason I’m getting into that is because the rules require best evidence,” Judge Romero said during the trial. “You have to have video unless it’s missing or can’t be found. And it appears, from what I’m hearing already, that there is a third one out there that’s just gone.”
Added Judge Romero: “I’ll be dreaming of those videos until sometime in October.”
The missing video, showing a third angle of the key interaction, is potentially critical to the question of whether the injuries suffered by John Darjean, who was a security guard at Shilo’s school in 2015, were “willful and malicious.” If so, the debt will survive. If not, it will be avoided.
Judge Romero will surely develop his own theory about where the video is, how it ended up missing, and what it potentially shows. And while his eventual ruling may articulate the issue one way, his mental impressions and true suspicions may never be said out loud or written into his ruling.
His subjective beliefs surely will guide his broader analysis, at some level. There seems to be enough evidence to justify a finding in either direction. If Judge Romero senses that the video is missing not because it exonerates Shilo but because it confirms that he was the aggressor in the fight with Darjean, Judge Romero becomes more likely to piece the available evidence together in a way that leads to a finding that Shilo will not be able to shirk the $11.89 million debt to Darjean through the bankruptcy laws.
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