Worker accused of stealing winning Oregon lottery ticket

LOL...I have to agree with all of you..and they say you cant judge a book by its cover..hahaha

We've had this discussion before, about whether a bearer instrument belongs to the person who finds it.  I think this case may prove that no, it doesn't.  You're supposed to turn money into police if you don't know who it belongs to, and if it's not claimed within a certain time period, then it belongs to you.  

This ticket obviously was not thrown away or discarded.  It was lost.  So even tho it's a bearer instrument, the employee was obligated to turn it over to the police.

Yes, I agree.  As I wrote earlier, what he did is morally wrong.  I wouldn't want to leave my wallet somewhere and learn that someone took it.  I've found money and other stuff & turned it in. However, a good lawyer could argue that he found the ticket on the floor or outside in the parking lot or in the dumpster.  What I was saying is that, knowing he owed back taxes and child support, he lied and asked someone else to accompany him to the Lottery.  If I walked into Denny's and found a ticket on the floor and it wasn't signed, I realize that I'd have no idea where it was purchased and they are all tracked.  But people have found tickets in FL and claimed them, and the Lottery awarded them the entire prize. I think the key is that he worked at the restaurant and he knew she came back to look for the notebook. She was probably frantic & hysterical.  I remember the thread where KY Floyd said (don't want to misquote anyone) something like money is not always a bearer instrument, since a wallet might be stolen or lost and the person finding the wallet doesn't have any right to that money.

I guess each individual situation is different and it's up to the lottery and/or the courts. Remember the story about St John, an elderly man who found a ticket in the trash? The original purchaser fought him in court even after the Lottery awarded St John the money, but he didn't lie when he made his claim. 

I just thought of the movie "Thelma & Louise." 

"He sounds like a creep, but putting him in jail for 10 years or fining him an amount he will never be able to pay isn't going to help his children.  He should be allowed to work and his wages garnished, but what good does sticking him in a cell while we foot the bill do for society?"

It'll get the word out to other would-be thieves that "Finders Keepers" doesn't apply under the law. 

"But people have found tickets in FL and claimed them, and the Lottery awarded them the entire prize."

If the original owner doesn't come forward, I could see why the lottery would award it to the bearer.  But if someone else comes forward and has some type of proof they lost it or that it was stolen, would the lottery still award the prize to the bearer?  Or would they let the courts decide?

I just thought of the movie "Thelma & Louise." 

It's been too long since I saw that movie, I don't get the reference.   

"Class B felony punishable by a sentence of up to 10 years in prison and/or a fine up to $250,000.00."

kinda harsh for the crime committed.  I guess the guy needed the money to risk that.   

An really stupid on their part to EVEN take the ticket inside in the first place

I remember I once found a wallet with a lot of money in it. I was really poor and needed the funds but I found the driver's license and took the wallet to the address given. Being poor, I had no car so I walked it there. It took me a couple of hours being a rather long distance. I walked up to the door with my integrity intact and the owner of the wallet opened the door. I told him that I found his wallet in the street and I gave it to him. He said, "The money had better all be in there." and closed the door. Having learned a very important lesson, I walked back home.

Geena Davis told Brad Pitt about some money they had and he took off with it, leaving them high and dry which is why she held up that store.  I don't know why I thought of that scene, because it's not the same as taking a lottery ticket someone left on a table.  Maybe I just wanted to think about Brad Pitt in that pair of dungarees back in 1991.

Jeffrey writes:

"I told him that I found his wallet in the street and I gave it to him. He said, "The money had better all be in there." and closed the door. Having learned a very important lesson, I walked back home."

Jeffrey, not everyone is that ungrateful.  I hope one bad experience didn't give you a jaundiced outlook on the rest of the world.  I had a similar experience.  Once I went back to Pulix because I found an extra $20 and realized the cashier gave me too much cash back. When he counted his cash drawer, he was short $20.  I thought he'd be grateful because, where I've worked, I was responsible for the total in my register at the end of my shift.  Instead, another cashier said to me "do you know what you've done?  You probably got him in a whole lot of trouble!" and gave me a dirty look.  I think we all have similar stories.  Keep being the honest person you are and don't have expectations..your integrity isn't based on the reaction of others.

This woman never should have been a winner. How are you gonna win the top prize and not sign the ticket? Then she is on your way to lottery headquarters to cash the ticket and decide to stop and get a bite to eat and carries the ticket into the restaurant in a notebook? I guess her purse was to full from carrying makeup, combs, brushes, and what nots that the ticket wouldn't fit in there. She remembers to pay the bill and then leaves, returning about 15 minutes later to get the notebook with the ticket in it. Wasn't the whole purpose of the trip originally to cash a winning ticket???? How could she leave it??? The only person I feel sorry for was the 21 yr old guy who appears to be trying to help someone get over on paying his taxes and depriving his kids of what is owed to them. Looking at that pic I don't think he really has any kids and he would be lucky to have a dog, cat, or even a shadow. As said in earlier posts, "That is a scary pic." A pic only a mother could love.