Winners And Losers In Mega-Mess

In the wake of last week's disputed Mega Millions jackpot, one woman is awaiting a check, another is consulting an attorney, and the town in which the single winning ticket was purchased is also a winner.

Rebecca Jemison, 34, of suburban South Euclid, was certified Tuesday as the winner of the Dec. 30 drawing, getting a lump-sum payment of $67.2 million after taxes.

Elecia Battle, 40, of Cleveland, said she dropped her purse as she left a South Euclid convenience store after buying the winning ticket for the 11-state Mega Millions drawing. She filed a police report Monday, prompting a scurry in the store's parking lot of fortune-seeking trash-pickers.

After Jemison claimed the prize, Battle asked Cuyahoga Common Pleas Court to block the lottery from paying out the jackpot to Jemison.

South Euclid, meanwhile, is expecting its own windfall to the tune of about $1.4 million in taxes from the prize. The Cleveland suburb had been expecting a $1 million deficit for 2004, and Mayor Georgine Welo laid off 11 employees last week.

Welo said Tuesday the unexpected income tax will make life easier in South Euclid, and that she likely would soon rehire two of the laid-off workers.

Battle admitted Wednesday she was charged previously with assault and credit card fraud. However, she insisted she was not convicted of the charges. She refused to discuss why or when she was charged.

"I'm done with that," said Battle, 40, of Cleveland. "I paid the fine. That's the end of the story.

"It makes me look like I'm a bad person. Everybody has bad in the past. I'm not even worried about that, really. I never did any jail time for that."

A message to try to confirm the charges was left Wednesday with South Euclid police.

Battle said she realized after the drawing that her winning ticket was missing and told police that the numbers she picked represented family birthdays and ages.

"My ticket was lost. I do recall all the numbers. They are all somehow family related. No one can tell me what I did and did not play. I did it honestly and I have no doubt," Battle said.

"It's so ridiculous to believe that because there's a system, somebody didn't screw up," Starke told CBS News Correspondent Cynthia Bowers.

The Ohio Lottery says the ticket is a bearer note, which means whoever turns in a valid ticket is legally entitled to the winnings.

South Euclid police feel Jemison's winning ticket "obviously draws into question the integrity of Elecia Battle's report," said Lt. Kevin Nietert.

Police, who originally said Battle had told a credible story about losing the winning ticket, are now investigating whether she lied in a police report, a misdemeanor punishable by 30 days to six months in jail.

Her husband, Jimmy, wouldn't comment Wednesday before getting into a car and driving away. He said his attorney told him to keep quiet, and he added, "I don't want to incriminate myself."

Jemison, who handles telephone and doctor paging duties at a suburban hospital, said she was looking forward to buying a new home, taking a vacation and sharing her prize with her tight-knit family. She and her husband, Sam, have a 12-year-old daughter. Jemison should receive payment in two to three weeks, the lottery said.

Dennis G. Kennedy, director of the Ohio Lottery, said the lottery was confident Jemison had purchased the ticket, not found it.

Jemison provided another lottery ticket purchased at the same time and location and had a lottery ticket that showed she had played the same numbers in the prior drawing, Kennedy said.