• Deion Sanders has been issued a subpoena through his attorney to testify at his son Shilo’s bankruptcy trial.
• The trial is scheduled to start Aug. 31 and last five days while Colorado leaves for its season opener in Atlanta Sept. 1.
• Shilo Sanders filed for bankruptcy in 2023 after a nearly $12 million judgment was awarded against him.

An attorney for Colorado football coach Deion Sanders has accepted service of a subpoena for Sanders to testify at his son Shilo’s bankruptcy trial in Denver the same week Colorado opens the season at Georgia Tech on Sept. 3, according to new court filing on Aug. 19.

The court filing said Deion Sanders’ attorney, Harvey Steinberg, agreed to accept service of the subpoena recently on behalf of his client via email. The subpoena commands Deion Sanders to appear at the trial, which begins Aug. 31 and is scheduled to last approximately five days through Sept. 4. The Colorado football team is scheduled to leave for Georgia on Sept. 1.

Sanders’ attorney now could try to stop the subpoena by filing a motion to quash it. But it would be up to the judge in the case, Michael Romero, who previously acknowledged the conflict with Colorado’s season-opening week.

“The subpoena commands attendance within 100 miles of where Mr. Sanders resides, is employed, and regularly transacts business in person,” said the proof of service filed in court Aug. 19.

Shilo Sanders, 26, filed for bankruptcy in 2023 with more than $11 million in debt. He owes almost all of it to a former security guard at his school in Dallas, John Darjean, who sued him and accused him of causing him permanent injuries in 2015 when he tried to confiscate his phone at school at his father’s request. Darjean won a $11.89 million default judgment in the case in 2022 after Shilo Sanders didn’t show up at trial.

Can Deion Sanders get out of this subpoena?

A scheduling conflict with a job or a football game won’t be enough to quash the subpoena, according to one legal expert contacted by USA TODAY Sports. Sometimes a judge will quash a subpoena for other reasons such as undue burden or expense for the witness. Romero previously noted Deion Sanders might have relevant testimony to provide in the trial, where Shilo Sanders is trying to free himself of the debt.

“I’m not sure why a judge would agree that a person needing to go to work is a good reason to quash (a subpoena),” said Mechele Dickerson, a law professor at the University of Texas. “Lots of witnesses have jobs so if `I’d have to miss work’ is a defense, almost all involuntary witnesses could avoid testifying.”

A message seeking comment from Steinberg wasn’t immediately returned. Darjean’s attorney, Ori Raphael, offered to schedule Sanders’ testimony at a certain time, according to an email attached to the proof of service.

“Happy to discuss arrangements to set a defined scheduled window for his testimony,” said the email from Raphael to Sanders’ attorney.

Boulder sheriff’s office previously tried to serve Deion Sanders

The subpoena comes at the request of Darjean’s attorney, who filed the proof of service for the subpoena Aug. 19. The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office previously attempted to serve Sanders with the subpoena on the Boulder campus Aug. 11, but was told Sanders was not available to receive it during a preseason practice.

“Unable to gain access into secure area of CU,” the sheriff’s deputy noted afterward, according to the new court filing.

The sheriff’s office noted it is common for civil service to require multiple attempts.

“While coordinating with university staff to identify a time for service, our office was contacted by Mr. Sanders’ legal counsel, who indicated they were able to accept the documents on his behalf,” the Boulder sheriff’s office told USA TODAY Sports on Aug. 18. “Because his counsel was located outside Boulder County, we transferred the paperwork to the appropriate jurisdiction for service.”

The issue at trial is whether the debt stems from a willful and malicious injury. Darjean is fighting to collect on the judgment and argues that because it stems from a willful and malicious injury, he is not allowed to discharge it under bankruptcy law. Shilo Sanders has said he acted in self-defense and therefore should be entitled to discharge the debt because it was not willful and malicious.

Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com