Shilo Sanders isn't out of the woods yet, but the Colorado safety got what USA Today's Brent Schrotenboer called a "victory that keeps alive his effort to discharge more than $11 million in debt."
Schrotenboer explained the legal proceedings' next steps.
"Judge Michael E. Romero ruled the case would require a trial of sorts to determine whether the son of Colorado coach Deion Sanders was being 'willful and malicious' when he allegedly assaulted a security guard at his school in 2015, when Shilo was 15 years old," Schrotenboer relayed.
Judge Michael E. Romero further clarified what the court was looking for moving forward in the case.
“This Court has already determined the issues of willful and malicious behavior will be re-litigated in this proceeding,” Romero said in his ruling issued Tuesday, obtained by USA TODAY Sports. “That determination will necessarily involve an examination of any justification, including self-defense, offered by Sanders for his allegedly willful and malicious behavior.”
As Schrotenboer explained, the ramifications of Tuesday's decision could've been a worst-case scenario for Shilo had things gone the other way.
"If the judge had ruled the other way on this matter, Shilo Sanders would have suffered a crippling blow in his effort to erase his $11 million debt to John Darjean, the security guard he allegedly assaulted in 2015. He would have been on the hook to pay that money back to Darjean, pending any appeal," Schrotenboer wrote.
A case that once looked like it'd drag Deion and Shedeur Sanders into it looks to be swinging heavily in Shilo's direction. With that said, this has been a nine-year issue that may not be settled anytime soon regardless.