The lawyer representing Powerball winner Edwin Castro’s rival — who is suing him for allegedly cashing a stolen ticket — wants the California Lottery to turn over supposed evidence in his criminal case.
Jose Rivera pleaded not guilty after being accused of filing a false police report in Pasadena.
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He has now hired attorney John Michael Flanagan to handle his criminal case, while his civil case continues in Alhambra until the end of July.
Flanagan appeared in court in Pasadena with Rivera on Monday morning and asked that the pre-trail conference be moved to August 13, which was granted by Judge Donna Hollingsworth.
He revealed that he is new to the case and needed to gather materials that showed Castro allegedly purchasing his ticket and proof of purchase, as well as timed images of Rivera at the same gas station.
Flanagan told The US Sun that he saw photos of the former mechanic taken from surveillance footage at Joe’s Service Center in Altadena, where the winning ticket was purchased.
Flanagan said: “I was shown pictures of him in the store, standing at the table [cash register]. But it’s not a video, I don’t know what’s happening, I don’t know when it was.
“I need to know the exact time. And if the state lottery has video of Castro that day, it should have video of the entire day. That’s what I need to see.”
DELAY IN DRAWING
Flanagan said he understands the lottery has been fairly “uncooperative” so far and if the criminal case goes to trial he will subpoena them to present evidence.
He added that he is investigating the case further and finding out who could be called as a witness for Rivera.
The US Sun understands that Rivera and his previous lawyers viewed the images privately before backing out.
The US Sun previously visited Joe’s Service Center in Altadena where the ticket was purchased and took photos of the security cameras operating in the store.
Owner Joe Chahayed claimed he had not seen the footage and that it was taken by the California Lottery after the win.
The Powerball drawing for the world record jackpot took place at 8:57 a.m. on Nov. 8 at the Florida Lottery drawing studio in Tallahassee, according to nclottery.com.
The winning numbers were: 10, 33, 41, 47, 56 and 10, while the Power Play multiplier was 2X.
The delay in Monday night’s drawing occurred because a participating lottery needed more time to process its sales and game data, according to reports.
Rivera insists he bought the ticket the day before and specifically picked the winning numbers.
Did José Rivera buy the winning ticket?
Katy Forrester, from the US Sun, has been following the curious case of Edwin Castro and José Rivera for more than a year. She feels there will be no quick end to the case in 2024.
“The Castro case has become one of the most fascinating human interest stories I have covered in recent years. People love reading about big lottery winners, and we’re talking about the largest sum of money ever won in America.
“Castro’s life changed overnight and he spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on everything from luxury homes to vintage sports cars.
“But not everything has been positive for the former car mechanic, and I know the process is taking a heavy toll on him as he doesn’t want anyone to think he’s not the rightful winner.
“Many love to support an underdog, and I’ve heard from several readers who support Jose Rivera in his fight against the Powerball winner.
“But it is a very big struggle as he has been unable to provide any evidence so far that he regularly chose the same draw numbers; 10-33-41-47-56, and the Powerball number; 10.
“Do I think he intentionally wasted the police’s time? No. I think Rivera believes 100 percent that he selected the winning numbers.
“The California Lottery has come under a lot of scrutiny over the years for paying out large sums of money despite claiming to have rigorous checks.
“They supported Castro from the beginning,
“I believe Castro sees the civil process as just an inconvenience and not something to seriously worry about. I don’t think he will agree to a settlement at any point, he may face increasing legal fees and will want to clear his name.
“If the case goes to trial, it will be very interesting to see whether the video of the sale is finally shown and whether it will be enough to prove that Castro hit the jackpot.”
Despite several attempts, the California Lottery has consistently refused to publicly release any evidence as the civil case is still ongoing.
The US Sun reached out again Monday to Carolyn Becker, deputy director of Public Affairs and Communications, but did not hear back.
She previously said: “I will reiterate our previous statement that when it comes to the process of verifying big winners, the California Lottery has the utmost confidence in its process to do so.
“The California Lottery remains confident that Edwin Castro is the rightful winner of the $2.04 billion jackpot resulting from the November 2022 Powerball drawing.”
Rivera refuses to believe that the times are related to when the winning ticket was purchased.
Attorney Bryan Patridge is prosecuting the case, but also declined to share videos or photographs when asked directly by The US Sun.
MEETING AT NIGHT
Castro’s former lawyer David De Paoli previously said he had seen the footage and described it as “crystal clear.”
“Edwin Castro bought the winning Powerball ticket without question,” he added.
Rivera accuses his former owner, Urachi “Reggie” Romero, of stealing the ticket that later ended up in Castro’s hands.
Romero denied accepting the ticket, but strangely said he believed Rivera had chosen the winning numbers when he saw them after purchase.
Castro’s team insists the Powerball winner has no ties to either man and is confident the civil suit will be dismissed soon.
The 32-year-old became the biggest lottery winner in American history when he hit the jackpot.
He ended up walking away with $628.5 million after taxes and was seen spending money on expensive properties and vintage luxury cars.
The US Sun published photos of Castro over the weekend getting into a Porsche 911 GT2RS with a mystery blonde.
The happy couple were also photographed kissing inside their half-million dollar sports car after a night of fine dining at Nobu sushi restaurant in Malibu.
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
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