Lottery fight brewing in Massachusetts

Comment #51

DoctorEw220 — Mon, 24 Oct 2005 09:59:36 GMT

I'd be a little more concerned that the guy spent over $600 in tickets.

Comment #50

sirbrad — Mon, 24 Oct 2005 06:27:20 GMT

Another case of honesty not actually paying off. At least I know to never tell anyone if I find a winning ticket that I found it. Because I am sure quite a few people will start having a very astute memory all the sudden about tickets they accidently threw away.

Comment #49

golotto — Mon, 24 Oct 2005 05:43:16 GMT

Confucious says ....Always sign your million dollar scratch off winners ...before tossing them in the trash. The guy who found a ticket in the trash is the bearer. He committed no crime in picking a piece of paper out of the dust-bin and it makes no difference if it was inside or outside the store. Pay to the order of bearer.

Comment #48

Chewie — Sun, 23 Oct 2005 13:38:36 GMT

If you drop a twenty dollar bill on the street and some ones comes behind you and picks it up and walks away, you have made a costly mistake. When you scratch off a million dollar card, miss seeing what you bought the card for in the first place, and then throw it away, you are dumber then a Dung Beatle. Whats scary, is that the idiot probably has a drivers license and is loose on the highways as I write this.

Comment #47

shalini — Sun, 23 Oct 2005 11:25:37 GMT

Comment #46

JAG331 — Sat, 22 Oct 2005 18:35:18 GMT

You can place a winning ticket into the wrong pile, only if you are aware that it's a winner. The man who bought the tickets was unaware of the $1 million winner, thinking the ticket was a loser, put it into the correct, losing pile.

Comment #45

Rip Snorter — Sat, 22 Oct 2005 18:32:10 GMT

I agree with you.The human memory tends to be opportunistic, circling around behind to fill in needed gaps in the pre-event reality to shore up a sagging present.The guy obviously didn't know he had a big winner. If he had, he wouldn't have put it in any pile. He'd have carefully finished scratching it, gazed at it, studied it, examined it to figure out how he was reading it wrong, fooling himself.The store owner knew he'd bought a lot of tickets, knew where his bread was likely to be best but... [ More ]

Comment #44

bellyache — Sat, 22 Oct 2005 18:21:03 GMT

Really though, how does one put a million dollar ticket in the wrong pile? If you buy a bunch of tickets and scratch them entirely, when you notice that you have won a million dollars you'd stop scratching the others and say something or do something since you just won the big prize. You wouldn't just say to yourself, Oh it's just a million dollars, let me put it in the winning pile and continue to scratch the other tickets. I think the guy scratched only a certain amount or looked at the code... [ More ]

Comment #43

LiSaD1164 — Sat, 22 Oct 2005 18:07:29 GMT

I'm sorry JAG but I don't see how the lawyer and I had conflicting accounts? As we both stated, he placed the winning ticket into the wrong pile. How is that conflicting if I may ask

Comment #42

paki — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 16:34:47 GMT

i say St. John give the guy the cost of the ticket...$10...and tell him that the lottery is NOT for him...

Comment #41

Rip Snorter — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 16:30:48 GMT

If the ticket had dropped off the table and been lying there on the floor I think this guy would have had a claim that I could sympathize with. That would have been an accident, a loss. This guy didn't do that. He took a pile of tickets, of which this ticket was a part, deliberately placed there by him, whether he placed it there by mistake, or not, and he consciously threw them in the trash with the winner a piece of his repudiation of the whole.That all assumes the ticket found by the dumpst... [ More ]

Comment #40

JAG331 — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 16:27:51 GMT

Thanks paki. Lisa and the lawyer, both purportedly in close contact with the buyer/loser have given conflicting accounts.

Comment #39

paki — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 16:25:42 GMT

good observation JAG

Comment #38

JAG331 — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 16:08:09 GMT

Doyle, from the news story: He accidentally put the winning ticket in the loser pile, which he then threw in the wastebasket.LisaD: He did not scratch off the amount he had won, he just saw that two numbers matched up. Obviosy if he had one $1 million he would have been more careful. He had a couple of other scratch tickets and he placed the winner in the WRONG pile.Me: He put the winning ticket in the loser pile because he never even scratched the prize!!! You don't deserve to win if you don't... [ More ]

Comment #37

UmBrook — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 15:49:07 GMT

LisaD1164 ,Lottery Post is a forum for the open exchange of ideas, information and comments. It is hardly your place to quantify a member's comments as unneccessary or otherwise. You claimed that you know the man who discarded the ticket, yet all that you've been able to add was that there was a NO LOITERING sign outside the store. Were you there? Do you know what St. John's thought process was when he discarded the ticket? Do you know with relative certainty that the 80-year went into the gar... [ More ]

Comment #36

Privejules — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 15:33:46 GMT

I am Julie Prive, the woman who was sued 3 years ago because I found a $4 million dollar ticket in the garbage. If the man who found this ticket loses and he reads this, PLEASE contact me, I am considering suing the state of Massachusetts (the Barnstable County Court) for breaking my Massachusetts Constitutional Rights. The constitution states that all parties are able to present all proofs that may be favorable to them in a court of law (the man suing me had 4 different statements signed un... [ More ]

Comment #35

konane — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 02:27:28 GMT

Well said!! If it's important, you keep track of it. He didn't

Comment #34

bellyache — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 02:25:21 GMT

The fact of the matter is, your friend threw the ticket away, Your friend did not sign the back. Your friend should be out of a million bucks. He should of kept better track of his tickets. He didn't and ended up throwing it away. He threw it away. It does not belong to him anymore. And what does the No Loitering sign have to do with anything? It doesn't look like the store owner stopped St. John from digging in the garbage does it? So in my opinion your friend does not deserve to win.... [ More ]

Comment #33

konane — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 01:58:14 GMT

Rip summed things up really well.Agree, welcome to Lottery Post.As I posted in Rip's blog earlier today, for all anyone knows an illegal alien could have discarded that particular ticket, not being able to read or decipher codes on it. Happens more times than not.Hey St. John may have found enough unclaimed tickets in someone else's trash to have had money. Did the store owner have him empty his pockets on the counter so he could count it??.... Now where's that young pit bull attorney looking... [ More ]

Comment #32

Rip Snorter — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 01:26:06 GMT

Interesting story.Surveillance tapes might well prove he threw some tickets away, but they won't prove he threw away the winner. They won't prove St. John didn't actually get the ticket from the dumpster, as he claims. They might prove he gots 'some' ticket from the trash indoors, but they won't be able to identify which was found where.However, if they do, they'll prove he took something another person didn't want and threw away. The ticket would have ended up in the dumpster, then at the du... [ More ]

Comment #31

LiSaD1164 — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 00:08:37 GMT

Incase any of you were wondering, I happen to know the man who originally owned the ticket very well. He can prove he owned the ticket by surveillance tapes. The store owner called the man because he knew St. John did NOT have $10 to buy the ticket and he knew that it rightfully belonged to the other man. None of you actually know the story, so stop making unnecessary comments. He did not scratch off the amount he had won, he just saw that two numbers matched up. Obviosy if he had one $1 millio... [ More ]

Comment #30

bellyache — Wed, 19 Oct 2005 21:34:20 GMT

I also want to know why people only scratch the corners/code of tickets? If you're going to take the time to buy the ticket, scratch the whole thing

Comment #29

Tenaj — Wed, 19 Oct 2005 21:11:47 GMT

What I want to know is how in the hell can anybody put a million dollar scratch off ticket in a pile? I don't get it. He probably just scratched the code and threw it away. I can't see anybody giving him that money. Finders keepers, losers weepers

Comment #28

CASH Only — Wed, 19 Oct 2005 20:28:14 GMT

The octonagerian (sp?) should sue so he has a fighting chance to collect in lump sum. You remember Louise Outing from last year.

Comment #27

UmBrook — Wed, 19 Oct 2005 20:26:16 GMT

What in the hell was the clerk doing while the 80-year old had his head in the garbage? Did he think the 80-year old was collecting data for an experiment on the contents of convenience store garbage bins? This whole story smells worse than a sewage treatment plant on a hot day. GO WHITE SOX

Comment #26

Chewie — Wed, 19 Oct 2005 19:16:45 GMT

It would seem to me, the moral of the story is, if you find money, shut your mouth and walk away. How many times do you hear about some one being caught for a crime because some one else opened their mouth. Take the ticket to another city, smile, and walk away. Smarter than announcing that you found a million dollars in a trash can - does any one want a share

Comment #25

Rolling — Wed, 19 Oct 2005 18:51:11 GMT

What if there is actual video surveillance that shows the guy who bought the $600 worth of tickets, scratching them and then tossing a bunch of them in the trash and leaving. Then two minutes later, the tape would show this other guy going through the trash and retrieving the tickets.I know that tickets are a bearer instrument and in my opinion the 82-year-old man should get to keep ALL of the $1 million. But, the way court systems are these days and who knows what kind of jury can be selected... [ More ]

Comment #24

acronym007 — Wed, 19 Oct 2005 14:46:32 GMT

My point exactly!!!! The deepest pocket on my person. Not in some pile. Might even tuck into my sock, not going to leave it on the counter like oh well just a winner, 1 Million, $10, $50 same thing. NO WAY. Sticking that ticket down my draws.... LOL

Comment #23

wizeguy — Wed, 19 Oct 2005 14:35:11 GMT

No way, it wouldn't go into a pile at all. It would go in my *pocket*. It's St Johns ticket now

Comment #22

acronym007 — Wed, 19 Oct 2005 12:38:37 GMT

If you won a million dollars, does that go into the winner's pile? For me it goes into the Super Winners' Pile, never let out of your sight pile, that's why I think this guy is full of crap. I wouldn't put a million dollar ticket in the same winner pile as a $10 winner, would you

Comment #21

shalini — Wed, 19 Oct 2005 03:27:56 GMT

why should St. John have to share it?? Its his...the others are probably in cahoots.

Comment #20

TheGameGrl — Wed, 19 Oct 2005 01:44:44 GMT

I'd suggest they settle out of court, where as the old fell'r says, Hey I'll let ya keep your teeth and your dignity, we can then call it a day. End of story

Comment #19

iwillhit — Wed, 19 Oct 2005 01:27:20 GMT

i mean really who scratches a million dollar ticket and see that they won and put it on the side, he is just trying to collect what's not his, period.

Comment #18

bellyache — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 18:25:26 GMT

I think something is going on with the clerk and the man 50 year old guy. Maybe they are scheming together to get the ticket back and will end up spliting the profits.

Comment #17

starchild_45 — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 18:02:16 GMT

that is full of crap. i hope he loses and the old man gets to keep the ticket. i remember some years ago in the midwest two 10 year old girls found a 10,000 scratch ticket. they gave it to their dad and they got to keep the money. if he was stupid enough to throw it out. i would not give him one red cent. not a penny.

Comment #16

UmBrook — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 16:07:57 GMT

I'm not familar with the Massachusetts state lottery rules regs, but here in Illinois a lottery ticket is considered a bearer instrument . This means whoever is in possession of the ticket is the owner of said ticket, irregardless of how he/she came to be in possession of the ticket (barring an outright theft). That ticket became public domain when it came to rest in that garbage bin. Anyone could've pluck it out of there, you, me, Osama bin laden....Anyone

Comment #15

JAG331 — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 15:25:29 GMT

1. The 50 yr old throws the ticket away and leaves, not knowing he's got a million dollars.2. The 82 yr old man comes in to the store, finds the ticket, gets excited and tells the clerk what he's won.3. The clerk gets on the phone to the 50 yr old regular customer and says, hey, you'd better get down here right away, this old man just took one of your tickets, and maybe you can give me a nice tip for telling you so!I hope the judge can see through the smoke n mirror story of the clerk and 50 yr... [ More ]

Comment #14

Hammer1 — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 15:09:00 GMT

I'm a 62 year old man and i pick up scratch tickets all the time and some times from the trash. I have collected $10.00 doing this. I have also mailed tickets in for a second chance drawing, but i did not win. Does this mean i have to give up my $10.00 Naaaaa!!, don't think so. If one of those tickets were worth $1 million it would NOT get lost. That guy did NOT know he had a Million dollar ticket.

Comment #13

konane — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 14:14:05 GMT

I also hope that some really good attorney will represent the dumpster diver ticket holder pro bono for the case and all appeals filed.

Comment #12

mrmst — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 14:12:07 GMT

Finders keepers - losers... STUPID

Comment #11

Bradly_60 — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 14:08:33 GMT

I can't believe he it fighting this. Once you through something in the garbage it becomes public property. Anyone can take it. And yeah right like he really knew it was a winner and accidently threw it in the garbage. If I was scratching and won a million dollars I don't think I would finish scratching and there is no way I would let the ticket out of my sight. He found the ticket and as long as his name is on the back where it says to sign, the old guy is the rightful owner and nothing mor... [ More ]

Comment #10

tg636 — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 14:08:20 GMT

The lottery needs to make it clear that unless you are assaulted and have the winning ticket taken from your person, it is finders keepers. Even if video evidence shows Mr. Knucklehead throwing his tickets away, it should make no difference, he threw the ticket away and it now belongs to whoever took it out of the trash. Case closed.What now make me feel even less sorry for the guy who allegedly threw the ticket away is that he now claims he knew he had won a million dollars but accidently put

Comment #9

BabyJC — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 12:59:35 GMT

Whit - You can't go buy the codes when you're dealing with the big winners (thousands of dollars, etc.) -- They do not spell out what the big prize is. When you see stores hang up photocopies to show off the big prizes that their store sold, look at the codes on the photocopied ticket -- They do not spell out what the corresponding big prize was. I wanted to know what the codes were for big winners, so I started taking notice when many stores hang up their photocopies, and the code letters on... [ More ]

Comment #8

BabyJC — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 12:49:49 GMT

People who do not want to bring the stress and trouble into their life, that this old man is now going through, do not say anything and make a big fuss. All he had to do was go to Lottery headquarters and cash his ticket like every other winner, and no one would have ever known that he got it in a garbage can! You have to be smart -- And yes, you can be both excited and smart at the same time! If the old man loses his case, I don't feel sorry for him for not being smart and keeping it quiet... [ More ]

Comment #7

shalini — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 12:26:58 GMT

Comment #6

whitmansm2 — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 12:23:56 GMT

When I first read this story, I didn't realize this was a scratch off ticket. The buyer is an idiot. Oh this one is a million dollar winner. Isn't that nice. Well, let me stick it in a pile and keep scratching With scratch off tickets, if you win, it will spell out (with three letters) what you won. $10=ten$1= oneFree=fre$100= hunSeriously...look at your next scratch off ticket that you win. They do that so it's easier for the cashier to tell. If he didn't see the mil or whatever it says w... [ More ]

Comment #5

shalini — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 12:21:22 GMT

BabyJC, the guy was excited..I doubt if I could have kept the good news to myself had i been in his place

Comment #4

shalini — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 12:19:58 GMT

amen

Comment #3

BabyJC — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 12:03:18 GMT

Why did the store owner call the big gambler to tell him about the old man's find in the trash can? Seems like he was jealous and wanted to stir up trouble! I can understand throwing away a winner if this was on the $10 Poker ticket -- Those tickets are hard to decipher if you don't play cards/poker and need to know what beats what to know if it's a winner or not. It's still finder's keepers though! Also, when will people learn to stay quiet and keep their good fortune/find to themselves... [ More ]

Comment #2

Rip Snorter — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 11:56:28 GMT

Guy's spending a lot of money on lottery tickets. And lawyer, most likely. (Ironic coincidence, the Blackstone thing).I don't know how the law works on such matters, but if it came to a jury deciding I'd like to think the jury members would take the approach that when you throw something away it ceases to be your property. If a dumpster-diver's lucky enough to find it, it's his. This guy can only guess the ticket was his unless he has play slips lying about, which could have been done after t... [ More ]

Comment #1

shalini — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 11:02:07 GMT

if he can prove that he bought that particular ticket..fingerprints or receipts or whatever, then it's his other I'm afraid St.John is the lucky winner

Lottery fight brewing in Massachusetts

Lottery Post — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 10:57:22 GMT

Once the Blackstone man won more than $3,000 in a week. Another time, he scored about $20,000 on a winning lottery ticket.But the one time he hit the $1 million jackpot, he said, he accidentally threw away his fortune.Now he wants to collect his riches and has hired a lawyer to wrench the winning ticket away from the 82-year-old Blackstone resident who said he found it in the garbage last week. He's pretty emotionally upset, said Dan Doyle, a Blackstone lawyer representing the buyer of the tick... [ More ]