Lost Property or SOL?: Update 1-8-04 Woman admits to lying about losing Lottery Ticket

dmcowen674

No Lifer
Oct 13, 1999
54,894
47
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1-6-2003 $162M Mega Millions Ticket Turned In

CLEVELAND - Someone turned in a valid ticket for the $162 million Mega Millions multistate lottery jackpot, the Ohio Lottery said Tuesday, a day after a Cleveland woman claimed she lost the winning ticket outside the convenience store where it was sold.

Battle intended to make a case that the winning ticket from the 11-state game is her lost property, said her lawyer, Sheldon Starke.

"This is a question of lost property, not abandoned property," he said earlier Tuesday. "If there is one type of property that is not presumed to be abandoned, it's money ... Anyone who finds it is not the owner."

Police had said Battle was in tears when she filed her report Friday and did not hesitate when asked to write down the winning numbers.

"We don't believe that she's fabricating it, but there's no real way of knowing other than going on her word," Police Lt. Kevin Nieter said.

Nieter had said information Battle knew about when the ticket was bought and how the numbers were picked make her story credible. She told police that the numbers ? 12, 18, 21, 32 and 46 and Mega Ball 49 ? represented family birthdays and ages.

The Ohio Lottery said the winning ticket was sold to someone who chose the numbers rather than letting the computer make the choices.

Edit: What an idiot, she admitted to lying about the ticket. Jail time is in order.
 

TerryMathews

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
11,473
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According to the law, if you drop something and I find it, it does not intrinsically become mine. We have the ability to own property that is not in our posession. Hence why you can leave your car on the street and it's still there the next day.

The person who found the ticket may not have comitted a crime in claiming it, but he may not get the money. Legally, he may be entitled to the standard 10% finder's fee though.
 
Jan 12, 2003
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...assuming, of course, that what she says is true. If she could produce the same numbers chosen on previous tickets she has played, I would think this through some more. Until then, she has no claim in my book.
 
Jan 12, 2003
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..or if the store camera captured her at the register at the exact time the winning ticket was sold...not sure if they have a time/date stamp on the security film at the store, but that (along with the same numbers previously played by the woman) would clearly further her claim.
 

dmcowen674

No Lifer
Oct 13, 1999
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Originally posted by: TerryMathews
According to the law, if you drop something and I find it, it does not intrinsically become mine. We have the ability to own property that is not in our posession. Hence why you can leave your car on the street and it's still there the next day.

The person who found the ticket may not have comitted a crime in claiming it, but he may not get the money. Legally, he may be entitled to the standard 10% finder's fee though.

Where is her purse? The person had to take the ticket out of her purse to "find it".

If the ticket was taken out of your car is the person still "entitled" to the money?

 

Witling

Golden Member
Jul 30, 2003
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TerryM, do you have any authority for asserting that a person is entitled to a 10% finder's fee? I'm not familiar with any source that so suggests.
 

LordJezo

Banned
May 16, 2001
8,140
1
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Originally posted by: TerryMathews
According to the law, if you drop something and I find it, it does not intrinsically become mine. We have the ability to own property that is not in our posession. Hence why you can leave your car on the street and it's still there the next day.

The person who found the ticket may not have comitted a crime in claiming it, but he may not get the money. Legally, he may be entitled to the standard 10% finder's fee though.

According to the law whoever has the lottery ticket in their hand owns the ticket.

There is no proof that woman bought it. I am sure I could come up with a story just as good as hers. If she lost it, well, sucks for her.
 

Moonbeam

Elite Member
Nov 24, 1999
72,333
6,040
126
The problem with a 162 million is that it makes it more difficult to remember you are a nobody. Perhaps the fates spared her arrogance intentionally. Even with my great wealth I find myself constantly ungrateful. Thank you God for all these many blessings. I always think I'm alone. So sad.
 

chess9

Elite member
Apr 15, 2000
7,748
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Moonie:

You aren't alone...you have all those other people inside you...remember?

But, yes, fate is cruel and kind.

I notice the CNN article says that the woman who presented the winning ticket is claiming she purchased the ticket AND she has produced a receipt. This suggests a difficult road for the another claimant.

-Robert
 

Witling

Golden Member
Jul 30, 2003
1,448
0
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LordJezo, you're wrong in your observations about:

"According to the law whoever has the lottery ticket in their hand owns the ticket.

There is no proof that woman bought it. I am sure I could come up with a story just as good as hers. If she lost it, well, sucks for her."

In paragraph 2 you confuse the burden of proof with the laws of property. Assuming that the woman could prove that it was hers, she could get it back. Under the facts as reported in this thread, that would seem to be hard to prove.
 

mindmaniac

Senior member
Dec 30, 2003
915
1
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I hope that lady gets the entire six month sentence for pulling crap like that. If it really would have happened I would like to think that the person who purchased it would have the rights. If they don't claim and have proof it is their's after the 60 or 90 day waiting period then the finder has the rights to it.:sun::D