I Think I'd Have A Hard Time Concentrating At Work....

[Ksyrup]

Can you imagine? That's worse than not playing one week and seeing your numbers come up. It's just dust in the wind now, baby.

SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio (AP) -- A Cleveland woman has told police she picked the winning numbers for the $162 million Mega Millions lottery jackpot but lost the ticket before the drawing, according to a police report.

Elecia Battle told police she dropped her purse as she left the Quick Shop Food Mart last week after buying the ticket. She said she realized after the drawing last Tuesday that the ticket was missing.

The Ohio Lottery said the winning ticket was sold at the store, about 15 miles east of Cleveland.

After news of Battle's police report spread Monday night, several people wielding flashlights walked through snow and braved frigid temperatures to try to find the ticket in the store parking lot.

"I decided to come back to see if I could find the winning ticket," said LaVerne Coleman, 57, who says she would keep the winnings if she found the ticket.

Police say Battle was in tears when she came to the station Friday to file the report 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," Lt. Kevin Nieter told Cleveland's WEWS-TV on Monday.

Nieter 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 winning ticket was sold to someone who chose the numbers, not someone who let the machine pick.

Messages left with the police department seeking comment were not immediately returned.

Battle could not immediately be reached for comment. There was no telephone listing for her.

Nieter said Battle may be out of luck if someone else picked up the lone winning ticket.

"Whoever has the ticket has the right to stake the claim to the winning jackpot. You can file all the police reports you want but it's not going to help," he said.

Ohio Lottery spokeswoman Mardele Cohen said that if someone else came in with the ticket, Battle could try to get a temporary restraining order in court to block the winnings from being paid.

The winner has six months from the drawing to claim the largest jackpot in state history. If the money isn't claimed by June 27, it goes to Ohio and 10 other states that participate in the game.

[MrBug708]

Damn, sucks to be her

[Ksyrup]

I hope someone finds the ticket and tries to claim it. Then we'll get to see the legal test of "finders, keepers."

[Draft Dodger]

from a different article:

"12-18 is her son's birthday.
32 is her other son's birthday reversed.
36 is year her sister was born.
49 is her husband's age.
21 was picked for luck"

her son's birthday reversed? why? why not just 23. or 2 and 3 and not use 21.

sounds fishy to me.

[MrBug708]

No one else has come forward however and even if that one is fishy, the others probably match

[Draft Dodger]

the real ticket has been turned in, according to CNN.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/Midwest/01/06/lottery.ticket.ap/index.html

interesting quote from the article:
"About 30 people with flashlights searched for the ticket Monday night outside the store after a police report Battle filed became public. "

My first thought on this was - well, that's nice of all those volunteers to help her look for her ticket, but isn't it a bit naive of them, since I think she's bluffing. Then I realized they weren't helping her...they were helping themselves. And now, I hate people even more. :)

[Maple Leafs]

I wouldn't put it past anyone to fake this sort of thing.

But... if the lost ticket really did turn up in the parking lot or nearby, wouldn't that pretty much confirm that her story is true? It would be a heck of a bluff if she made up the story and it turned out that someone else really had lost the ticket.

Of course, I'm sure a dozen people will claim they really bought it now that someone has found it.

[Ksyrup]

And the plot thickens...


Winning ticket turned in for $162M jackpot
Not woman who claimed she lost ticket
Tuesday, January 6, 2004 Posted: 12:05 PM EST (1705 GMT)

CLEVELAND, Ohio (AP) -- A woman turned in the winning ticket for the $162 million Mega Millions multistate lottery jackpot, and it was not the one who claimed she lost it, lottery officials said Tuesday.

Rebecca Jemison, a hospital worker from South Euclid, turned in the 11-state jackpot at Ohio Lottery headquarters in downtown Cleveland, officials said. The lottery validated the sole winning ticket Tuesday morning for the drawing a week ago.

"I think I checked it about five or six times to make sure to see was it real," Jemison said at a news conference at lottery headquarters.

She said she told her mother even before telling her husband. "Being a mama's girl I wanted to share the news with my mama first," she added. She also talked to an attorney and an accountant.

"One thing I want to make clear: Luck had nothing to do with it. It was truly a blessing, truly a blessing," she said.

Earlier, a Cleveland woman, Elecia Battle, 40, filed a police report saying she lost the ticket last week. Police said her story was credible, but the Ohio Lottery said whoever turned in a valid ticket was legally entitled to the winnings.

About 30 people with flashlights searched for the ticket Monday night outside the suburban Cleveland store that sold the ticket after Battle's police report became public.

Jemison said she was angry and pushed to turn in the ticket after Battle's story was on the news. Jemison said she played the winning numbers occasionally over the past several years.

Battle's lawyer, Sheldon Starke, did not immediately return a call seeking comment on the lottery's announcement. He had said she intended to make a case that the winning ticket was lost property.

"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."

Battle told police that the numbers -- 12, 18, 21, 32 and 46 and Mega Ball 49 -- represented family birthdays and ages.

[albionmoonlight]

Don't most quikstop type stores have cameras? It should be easy to see who was in purchasing the ticket at the time it was produced.

[Maple Leafs]

Originally posted by Ksyrup
"One thing I want to make clear: Luck had nothing to do with it."Sigh.

[Subby]

God helps those who need it most by awarding them obscene sums of money to spend on frivolous shit...

[Peregrine]

The point is, it doesn't really matter who bought it. Lotteries don't have any kind of guarantee that only the person who bought a ticket can turn it in. You can buy/sell it, give it to someone, whatever (there was a case a couple years ago where a guy would always tip his waitresses at the local diner with lottery tickets, and one turned out to be a winner.) So maybe she lost it and this other person found it, maybe not, it doesn't really matter in the end.

[Kodos]

They should make a movie out of it and call it "It Can Happen To You."

[Ksyrup]

Originally posted by Kodos
They should make a movie out of it and call it "It Can Happen To You."

Thank you for putting Rosie Perez into my mind. Now I'm going to have to search for that Fran Drescher Old Navy commercial to get that "thing" out of my head. That's the equivalent of using pliers to pinch between your thumb and index finger to alleviate a migraine.

[rkmsuf]

Originally posted by Ksyrup
Thank you for putting Rosie Perez into my mind. Now I'm going to have to search for that Fran Drescher Old Navy commercial to get that "thing" out of my head. That's the equivalent of using pliers to pinch between your thumb and index finger to alleviate a migraine.

Nothing is better than taking Viagra and pulling out a picture of Delta Burke...

Next caller please...

[Ksyrup]

Are we talking 1st-and-10 Delta, or Designing Women Delta?

[cuervo72]

1st and 10 Delta was ultra-hot (trying to find some pics, but haven't yet). This may have to do:

http://www.missflorida.org/images/fla74.jpg

[rkmsuf]

Originally posted by Ksyrup
Are we talking 1st-and-10 Delta, or Designing Women Delta?

Let's just say you'd be longing for some Rosie...

"Yeah, we doin it..."

[mckerney]

"One thing I want to make clear: Luck had nothing to do with it. It was truly a blessing, truly a blessing."

God not only plays favorites in sporting events, now he's picking lottery winners.

[Ksyrup]

Originally posted by mckerney
God not only plays favorites in sporting events, now he's picking lottery winners.

That's right. And God enjoys blessing some while intentionally screwing the rest of us. Way to win brownie points, God!

[mckerney]

Originally posted by Ksyrup
That's right. And God enjoys blessing some while intentionally screwing the rest of us. Way to win brownie points, God!

Yes. Although I do seem to remembering some religous types speaking none to highly of gambling.

Although I think we can all say God did cause Jenna Jameson to win her first Woody, there's no doubt about that.

[GoSeahawks]

Originally posted by Kodos
They should make a movie out of it and call it "It Can Happen To You."
This actually made me laugh out loud. That's a rarity for me.

[TargetPractice6]

Originally posted by Ksyrup
Can you imagine? That's worse than not playing one week and seeing your numbers come up.

That made me think of this.

http://www.snopes.com/luck/lottosui.htm

[Karim]

Originally posted by Ksyrup
Are we talking 1st-and-10 Delta, or Designing Women Delta?

You mean Delta was once thin?

[Fouts]

Originally posted by albionmoonlight
Don't most quikstop type stores have cameras? It should be easy to see who was in purchasing the ticket at the time it was produced.

According to the police report, officers tried to see if Battle showed up on the store’s surveillance cameras but the store owner said the cameras were broken.

MSNBC link to lottery story (http://msnbc.msn.com/Default.aspx?id=3883848&p1=01%7C%7C%7C%7C003)

Looks like she is sol.

[Draft Dodger]

it keeps getting better (http://thesmokinggun.com/archive/elecialotto1.html)

As for why she picked the winning number 49, Dickson told cops that her "husband turns 49 this year." That came as a surprise to Keith Dickson, himself a dedicated gambler and lottery player. "I'm 44," he said. "I turn 45 in February."

:D

[DanGarion]

Originally posted by Draft Dodger
from a different article:

her son's birthday reversed? why? why not just 23. or 2 and 3 and not use 21.

sounds fishy to me.

Maybe she hates Michael Jordan...

Or Ryne Sandberg

Or maybe she's a Nolan Ryan fan and doesn't like Robin Ventura.

[DanGarion]

Originally posted by Ksyrup
Thank you for putting Rosie Perez into my mind. Now I'm going to have to search for that Fran Drescher Old Navy commercial to get that "thing" out of my head. That's the equivalent of using pliers to pinch between your thumb and index finger to alleviate a migraine.

Atleast Fran Drescher is hot.

[Draft Dodger]

Originally posted by dangarion
Atleast Fran Drescher is hot.

she's WHAT?

[DanGarion]

Originally posted by Draft Dodger
she's WHAT?

I meant if you are comparing her to Rosie Perez and don't allow her to talk.

[Tasan]

We had a term for women like here in college. Neckdown.

[TLK]

Butterface

[sabotai]

Originally posted by Draft Dodger
As for why she picked the winning number 49, Dickson told cops that her "husband turns 49 this year." That came as a surprise to Keith Dickson, himself a dedicated gambler and lottery player. "I'm 44," he said. "I turn 45 in February."

BUSTED!

[Groundhog]

Originally posted by Tasan
We had a term for women like here in college. Neckdown.

The term we use is Prawn.

As in body is great, but tear off the head.

[sooner333]

Originally posted by Draft Dodger
it keeps getting better (http://thesmokinggun.com/archive/elecialotto1.html)

As for why she picked the winning number 49, Dickson told cops that her "husband turns 49 this year." That came as a surprise to Keith Dickson, himself a dedicated gambler and lottery player. "I'm 44," he said. "I turn 45 in February."

:D

Well, in her defense, she could have meant the boyfriend she lives with and used his surname. I still bet she's lying, and if not, I don't really care, you shouldn't have lost an item worth potentialy 100 million dollars no matter how small the odds. Maybe if she made the claim before the lottery, then you'd have something.

[Suicane75]

Fran Drescher is a hottie and shes cute as a button too, and that voice while annoying during idle chit chat would probably sound reaaaaal nice in the throes of passion, just imagine it a little more throaty, yummy yummy.

[DanGarion]

Originally posted by Suicane75
Fran Drescher is a hottie and shes cute as a button too, and that voice while annoying during idle chit chat would probably sound reaaaaal nice in the throes of passion, just imagine it a little more throaty, yummy yummy.

That's what I was saying. Here here!

I mean she's pretty hot.

[cuervo72]

I've always thought Fran was pretty hot.

[Ksyrup]

Fran Drescher makes my skin crawl.


Anyway, here's the latest:


(CNN) -- An Ohio hospital worker won a $162 million multistate lottery jackpot -- but another woman claims the ticket is hers, and her lawyer has sought court intervention to block the winner from collecting the cash.

Rebecca Jemison, the 34-year-old certified winner, produced a receipt from the convenience store showing the date and time she purchased the winning ticket. And The Associated Press reported that a lottery official said Jemison provided a different lottery ticket she bought at the same time and location. She also had a ticket from an earlier drawing showing she had played the same winning numbers before.

Jemison, a wife and mother of a 12-year-old daughter, said she routinely played the same numbers -- 12, 18, 21, 32, 46 and 49 -- for about two years.

"I played it the Friday before, the same numbers. So I had the feeling to go play those numbers one more time," the hospital telecommunications worker said.

She chose the cash option for the December 30 Mega Millions drawing, which results in a $94 million one-time payout. She will keep about $67 million after taxes, Ohio Lottery Director Dennis Kennedy said.

But the attorney for the Cleveland, Ohio, woman who told police the ticket was hers, that she had bought it and lost it, has asked a court to block the lottery from making the payout to Jemison.

Earlier in the week, Elecia Battle, 40, filed a police report, saying she dropped her purse in the parking lot of the convenience store near South Euclid, Ohio, where the winning ticket was sold.

"I lost it. It's mine. It's my property," Battle said. "No one can cash it in."

Her attorney, Sheldon Starke, promised to fight for a share of the Mega Millions jackpot.

"That ticket's going to have to have some scrutiny," Starke said. "There's no question about it. We're going to have a shot at that ticket."

Starke said he may ask that the ticket be fingerprinted.

Kennedy said authorities were "comfortable" that Jemison, of South Euclid, was the winner. The ticket Jemison submitted did not appear to be weathered or damaged, he said.

"We looked at enough evidence this morning to convince me that Rebecca was the legitimate ticket holder, and the ticket was purchased according to the story she told us," he said.

Jemison said she "went into shock" after learning she had won the jackpot, and came forward after making arrangements with a lawyer and an accountant. She said she tried to keep her win quiet, even going to work on New Year's Day in order to avoid drawing attention to herself.

Jemison said she was angered by the claim that someone else had the winning ticket, but: "I knew ... what I possessed. I knew the proof I had, so it didn't bother me at all."

Speaking at her attorney's office, Battle was undeterred.

"I can't control what people say. I can't control what people think, but I do know that I picked my Mega numbers. Hey, she may have picked the numbers, but I know what I played and I know what I picked."

[Easy Mac]

Why doesn't the woman just claim she is the mother of LeBron James? That would be more fun.

[Ksyrup]

That's some tough evidence to stack up against. I mean, I can believe having older tickets with the same numbers on them, but who keeps the receipt for their lottery tickets?

I can only guess that the thinking here is to hope the judge grants the injunction on the premise that they want to be sure the winner is rightfully entitled to the ticket, and if he does, use that as leverage to scam a six-figure settlement out of the winner.

[albionmoonlight]

Generally, in order to get an injunction granted, you have to show a likelyhood of success on the merits of your case.

If I were the "real" winner (assuming that she is), I would not let that lying woman settle the case. I think that I would be just peeved enough to tell her attorney--let's take this to trial, and we are going to make it as drawn out and expensive as possible, and when your client loses, you will have 1/3 of nothing as your contingency fee, less your costs.

[Ksyrup]

True, but the other side of it is, she might just want to make it go away - at least that's probably the gamble they'll take. Still, with $67M to play with, she could set aside $2M for the legal bill and call the liar's bluff.

I agree, though, with that evidence, I don't see how they get the injunction. And once that's gone, the chances of getting anything go out the window.