Arkansas woman loses bid for $1M lottery ticket picked from trash

I think that the facts got twisted a bit in this story. I would be willing to bet she scanned the ticket herself on the scanner for keno/megamillions etc..I've seen people do it before. These scanners dont work for scratchies. I've never seen a scanner anywhere that a customer can use to check scratchies. She would have to have given the ticket to the clerk to really find out if it was a winner by scanning it on the lotto machine thats behind the counter.

It's pretty sad that the trash-winner didnt keep her win.

This is a sadly hilarious story.

1. Arkansas

2 Kangaroo court

3 This case WILL be turned over-turned in appeal. I agree with the vast majority of comments in that this ticket is the "Bearer instrument" and signature concludes the winner. End of story. Though the 'machine arguement' is interesting you are high if you don't think that will be dismissed as 'user error.'  As somebody mentioned the bar code may have been creased ect... in the end the state lottery won't be the one taking the heat.

4 It is commonplace in litigation to site other cases in order to support yours. Which I have NEVER seena case decided like this. Also the rules are on the back of the ticket and are to be followed VERBATIM. Not some hick judge in Ark. who make his own rules. Here in Mich. we have 10 cent deposit on bottles. Many people pick them up and return them. I am yet to see a homeless or thrifty individual be prosecuted for picking scrap metal out of somebody's trash or claim the deposit on a can of Pepsi he did not purchase. LAW MUST BE ACROSS THE BOARD! Reguardless of the money involved, otherwise you fight that the law in place IS TOO VAGUE! That is not the case with the rules on the back of a ticket. They are precise, poignant, and only a pinhead would misinterpret them, or an Ark. judge.  In Michigan there is a PLAY IT AGAIN option on instant and draw games in which you can enter non-winning tickets and you get points so that you can get an assortment of swag/prizes...you also get an entry to be on our state lottery show to win a million bucks. Every 10 bucks of non-winners gives you an entry to this game show.  I will be d#$med if somebody tries to deny me my option to be on this show cause I cash HUNDREDS of dollars a day in non-winners that i find in the trash and good f*%king luck trying to prove that your ticket was the one in the trash that I used and was randomly picked for me to be on the show.  A detroit lawyer would of cut this judge into pieces. Hire Geoffrey Fieger and this case would of been thrown out on the first day. Not a plug, simply saying the guy is a beast.

I agree 100%.  The lady is lucky atleast someone picked it up.  Now she has $1m thanks to the oddball woman.  Otherwise she would have had nothing!

I don't know about Arkansas but anybody that sticks their hands in a garbage can in a store around here is gonna get a whole lotta nasty ol' tobaccy spit on 'em.

Everybody chews around here, inside and out.

You'd have to wipe the tobaccy spit off all the tickets to check 'em. 

And some of them old time chewers hack up big globs of brown phlegm and spit it in there too.

You want them tickets, you can have 'em.

Sho ain't nobody fightin' over 'em.

I'm with you LottoMomma,

The lotto commision actually does a, lets call it a "pre interrogation" interview. This interview helps validate the ticket holder.

Where did you purchase the ticket?

What time did you buy the ticket?

Do you play all the time, or just once in a while?

Do you have a number system?

How many of the winning numbers do you remember?

Do you often choose your numbers?

Do you buy quick picks?

Any many more questions to follow.., so when its a show down to whom this ticket belongs to, the ladder shall prevail on the most convincing case.

Where I live, if you toss out a ticket not signed, It becomes someone elses chance if they go through the trash.

Would It be Awesome to know and figure out how many winning tickets get tossed out!?!

actually the read out scanner does work its just that people f.. it up. anything you give to the public they put dirty hands on screen and also hit them when they loss like they hit there wives and dogs lots of crazy people out there. i dont use scanners in the first place i use lottery post on my mobile phone first and then use the state lottery website second to confirm my lucky win . lol

According to her interview on The Today Show....she didn't tell the lottery that she won.  She claims they did a routine investigation and via the survelliance video they learned that she didn't buy the ticket but fished it out of the garbaged.  Personally...I don't believe her!!

What part don't you believe?

I agree 1000%... I believe Sharon (the finder) will win on Appeals!!

I don't believe that she didn't tell anyone, including the lottery officials that she found the ticket in the trash.

Yeah, that does sound a little suspect, thanks.

This is what i think...i think the clerk scanned another losing ticket that was just laying around and she kept the winner for herself. Say it doesn't happen, say it!

"they got money for wars, but they can't feed the poor"..tupac