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Lawyer for Edwin Castro’s rival demands California Lottery hands over video ‘proving he was real winner of $2b jackpot’
Inside the latest court hearing in Jose Rivera's criminal case
THE lawyer representing Powerball winner Edwin Castro's rival - who is suing him for allegedly cashing in a stolen ticket - wants the California Lottery to hand over alleged evidence for his criminal case.
Jose Rivera has pleaded not guilty after being charged with filing a false police complaint in Pasadena.
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He has now hired attorney John Michael Flanagan to handle his criminal case while his civil case has been continued in Alhambra until late July.
Flanagan appeared in court in Pasadena with Rivera on Monday morning and asked for the pre-trail conference to be moved to August 13, which was granted by Judge Donna Hollingsworth.
He revealed he is new to the case and needed to gather materials showing Castro supposedly buying his ticket and proof of his purchase, along with timed footage of Rivera at the same gas station.
Flanagan told The U.S. Sun he had seen photographs of the former mechanic taken from the surveillance footage at Joe's Service Center in Altadena, where the winning ticket was bought.
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Flanagan said, "I was shown photographs of him at the store, standing at the desk [cash register]. But it's not a video, I don't know what's going on, I don't know when it was.
"I need to know the precise time. And if the state lottery has video of Castro on that day, it should have the video for the entire day. That's what I need to see."
DRAW DELAY
Flanagan said he understood the lottery had been fairly "uncooperative" so far and if the criminal case goes to trial he will subpoena them for evidence.
He added that he's looking into the case fully and figuring out who could be called as a witness for Rivera.
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Rivera and his previous lawyers were shown the footage in private before they dropped out.
Edwin Castro's rival Jose Rivera claims pizza photo will prove he owns $2bn lottery ticket as court battle rumbles on
The U.S. Sun previously visited Joe's Service Center in Altadena where the ticket was purchased and took photographs of the working security cameras in the store.
Owner Joe Chahayed claimed he had not seen the footage himself and it had been taken by the California Lottery after the win.
The Powerball drawing for the world record jackpot took place at 8:57 am on November 8 at the Florida Lottery draw studio in Tallahassee, according to NC Lottery.
The winning numbers were: 10, 33, 41, 47, 56, and 10, while the Power Play multiplier was 2X.
The delay of the Monday night drawing occurred due to one participating lottery needing additional time to process its sales and play data, according to reports.
Rivera insists he bought his ticket the previous day and specifically chose the winning numbers.
Did Jose Rivera buy the winning ticket?
The U.S. Sun's Katy Forrester has followed the curious case of Edwin Castro and Jose 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've covered in recent years. People love to read 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's been splashing hundreds of thousands of dollars on everything from luxury homes to vintage sports cars. And he's still only 32.
"But it hasn't all been positive for the former car mechanic, and I know the lawsuit has been weighing heavily on him as he doesn't want anyone to think he isn't the rightful winner.
"Many love to back an underdog, and I have heard from several readers who are supporting Jose Rivera in his fight against the Powerball winner.
"But it is a very big fight, as he's failed to provide any evidence so far that he regularly picked the same numbers from the draw; 10-33-41-47-56, and the Powerball number; 10.
"Do I think he has intentionally wasted police time? No. I think Rivera 100 per cent believes he selected the winning numbers. But did he? That remains to be seen.
"The California Lottery has come under much scrutiny over the years for paying out big sums of money, despite claiming to have rigorous checks in place.
"They have supported Castro from the beginning,
"I believe Castro only sees the civil lawsuit as an inconvenience and not something to be seriously worried about. I don't think he will agree to settle at any point, he can afford mounting legal fees and will want to clear his name.
"If the case goes to trial, it will be very interesting to see if the video footage of the sale is finally shown, and if it's enough to prove Castro hit the jackpot."
Despite several attempts, the California Lottery has always refused to release any evidence publicly as the civil case is still ongoing.
The U.S. Sun reached out again on Monday to Carolyn Becker, the Deputy Director of Public Affairs and Communications.
Although she refused to comment on the new hearing, she said, "I will reiterate our earlier statement that when it comes to the vetting process for big winners, California Lottery has the utmost confidence in its process for doing so.
"California Lottery remains confident that Edwin Castro is the rightful winner of the $2.04 billion prize stemming from the Powerball drawing in November of 2022."
Rivera refuses to believe the timings correlate with when the winning ticket was purchased.
Attorney Bryan Patridge is prosecuting the case but also refused to share video or photographs when asked directly by The U.S. Sun.
DATE NIGHT
Castro's former lawyer, David De Paoli, previously claimed he had viewed the footage and described it as "crystal clear."
"Edwin Castro purchased the winning Powerball ticket without question," he added.
Rivera is accusing his former landlord, Urachi "Reggie" Romero, of stealing the ticket that later allegedly ended up in Castro's hands.
Romero denied taking the ticket but bizarrely said he believed Rivera had chosen the winning numbers having seen it after the purchase.
Castro's team insists the Powerball winner has no links to either of the men and they are confident the civil case will soon be dismissed.
The 32-year-old became the biggest lottery winner in American history when he hit the big time.
He eventually walked away with $628.5 million after taxes and has been seen splashing the cash on expensive properties and luxury vintage cars.
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The U.S. Sun published photographs of Castro over the weekend getting into a Porsche 911 GT2RS with a mystery blonde as his date.
The happy pair also locked lips inside the half-a-million-dollar sports car after an evening of fine dining at Nobu sushi restaurant in Malibu.
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