Lottery hijinks

[Boris Godunov]

I want to see if anyone here is gullible enough to believe this:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...ions_winner_11

CLEVELAND - A woman who claims she lost the winning Mega Millions lottery ticket and is suing to block payment to the acknowledged winner said Wednesday she was charged previously with credit card fraud and assault.

When asked about past run-ins with the law, Elecia Battle said she was charged but not convicted.

"I'm done with that," said Battle, 40. "I paid the fine. That's end of story. It makes me look like I'm a bad person. Everybody has bad in the past. I'm not even worried about that, really. I never did any jail time for that."

Battle said Wednesday that she was charged in the Cleveland suburb of South Euclid under her former married name, Elecia Dickson. She refused to discuss why or when she was charged. A call to the South Euclid police to try to confirm the charges was not immediately returned.

The Ohio Lottery on Tuesday declared Rebecca Jemison, 34, of South Euclid, the winner of the 11-state Dec. 30 drawing, qualifying her for a lump-sum payment of $67.2 million, after taxes.

Later Tuesday, Battle sued, asking a judge to block the lottery from paying Jemison.

Battle claimed in a police report that she dropped her purse as she left a convenience store after buying the ticket and only realized after the drawing that the ticket was missing.

"My ticket was lost. I do recall all the numbers. They are all somehow family related. No one can tell me what I did and did not play. I did it honestly and I have no doubt," Battle told The Associated Press at the office of her attorney, Sheldon Starke.

Authorities in South Euclid feel Jemison's winning ticket "obviously draws into question the integrity of Elecia Battle's report," said Lt. Kevin Nietert. Police are now investigating whether she lied in the police report — a misdemeanor punishable by 30 days to six months in jail.

Jemison said Battle's claim prompted her to quit stalling and submit her ticket.

"I was angry at first, but not worried at all," Jemison said. "I knew what I possessed."

Dennis G. Kennedy, director of the Ohio Lottery, said the lottery was confident Jemison bought the ticket. She provided another lottery ticket bought at the same time and had a ticket from a previous drawing with the same numbers, Kennedy said.

The Ohio Lottery says the ticket is a bearer note, which means whoever turns in a valid ticket is legally entitled to the winnings.

Jemison, who handles telephone and doctor paging duties at a suburban hospital, said she was looking forward to buying a new home, taking a vacation and sharing her prize with her tight-knit family. She and her husband, Sam, have a 12-year-old daughter.

South Euclid is expecting its own windfall of about $1.4 million in taxes from the prize. The Cleveland suburb had been expecting a $1 million deficit for 2004, and Mayor Georgine Welo laid off 11 employees last week.

Now I know you can usually find someone on Poly to defend anything, but does anybody here really feel Battle's story has merit? Choose your side!

[Japher]

I took the first option, but I don't know if Battle is lying or not, and I don't really care.

I think it would be a shame if Jemison found the ticket an claimed it as her own when she it wasn't, but I guess we'll never know. The rules are rules, you need not only purchase the ticket, but also present the ticket to collect your winnings. End of story.

[Boris Godunov]

Well, this could help:

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/doc_o_day/doc_o_day.html

[Mercator]

Obviously they're both lying! I have the real ticket!

I seem to have displaced my ticket, but I recall the numbers vividly, they're all related to my famly somehow.

[Japher]

"I'm done with that," said Battle, 40. "I paid the fine. That's end of story. It makes me look like I'm a bad person. Everybody has bad in the past. I'm not even worried about that, really. I never did any jail time for that."


That statement right there tells me where she is coming from. Plus, the fact that Jamison appeared to have played those numbers regularly. Battle's rap sheet is good in that it will prevent any frivolous law suits.

[rah]

Thanks BG, I vaguely heard about this on the news and hadn't read anything yet. My favorite part was......

When she went to cops with her tale of the lost lottery ticket, officers asked Dickson how she picked the six winning numbers. A couple of the numbers came from one son's birth date, while another number was another child's age flipped. 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."

[Spiffor]

67 million $ ? Wow, that's much money. I've never seen a lottery go that high

As for Battle: even if her story was true, I failto see how a trial is acceptable. If she doesn't have the winning ticket, then she hasn't won. Period. I fail tosee why she should milk money from someone else for being that clumsy

I hope she'll pay the legal fees

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by rah
A couple of the numbers came from one son's birth date, while another number was another child's age flipped.

Wtf?! Who picks numbers this way? Yeah, right...

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."

New rule: If you don't know your own husband's age, you aren't entitled to any money.

[Japher]

I think she's lying now.

"I picked that number by taking my youngest sons age, multipling by the third number in my Social Security Number, and dividing it the number of toes I wish I had..."

My lord, that lady has some serious lying issues.

[Stuie]

Originally posted by Japher
"I picked that number by taking my youngest sons age, multipling by the third number in my Social Security Number, and dividing it the number of toes I wish I had..."

I need to study numerology more so I can learn how to win the lottery.

[Arrian]

This woman is clearly a scamartist (a bad one).

But there are people who use birthdays and such to pick lotto numbers... like my Mom. I was born on Dec. 18th, so on those rare occasions she plays, she will often use 12 or 18 or both (my father is also a December b-day, so 12 works for both of us).

-Arrian

[Ming]

Let's see...

On behalf of Jemison's story:
Dennis G. Kennedy, director of the Ohio Lottery, said the lottery was confident Jemison bought the ticket. She provided another lottery ticket bought at the same time and had a ticket from a previous drawing with the same numbers, Kennedy said.

On behalf of Battle's story:
A woman who claims she lost the winning Mega Millions lottery ticket and is suing to block payment to the acknowledged winner said Wednesday she was charged previously with credit card fraud and assault.
However, she was never convicted.

You make the call...
CASE CLOSED...

[Boris Godunov]

Ok, who picked the counterfeiting option?!

[Tiamat]

So you have to wonder why she would go to all that trouble if it wasn't true...........oh yeah 67.4 MILLION DOLLARS!!!!

[Harry Tuttle]

Two words, jail time. Filing a false police report is a convictable offense.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Boris Godunov
Wtf?! Who picks numbers this way? Yeah, right...

That's easy to verify too.

[Sikander]

Throw this b!tch into jail. It's bad enough that she tried to steal millions of dollars from this other (law abiding and employed) woman, but now she's suing to block payment in order to shore up her legal position. I hope the other woman pays to have her whacked in prison.

[Shogun Gunner]

Women who claimed lottery win admits to lie

I agree with jail time, at least 30 days, to make a point.

Filing false police reports and frivilous lawsuits costs money. Just like this lady who doesn't understand the true value of money (just expects a handout), she certainly doesn't understand the costs to running a police department or court.

Why aren't people held to the responsibility of their actions?

Why do people expect free money? She lied about winning the lottery, she conducted credit card fraud, etc.

To JAIL with her

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by Shogun Gunner
Why do people expect free money?

Maybe because your tort system looks so much like a lottery itself?

[Arrian]

For once, I agree with Spiffor.

-Arrian

[Shogun Gunner]

Can't argue with that either... {tips hat to Spiffor}