Brandy Milliner, $63 Million California Lottery Winner, Sues State For Not Paying Over ‘Damaged’ Ticket

Brandy Milliner may have won the $63 million California lottery, but she doesn’t have the winnings to prove it.

TMZ reports that the state of California is refusing to pay Brandy the winnings due to a technicality — Brandy’s lottery ticket was “too damaged.”

Milliner reportedly filed a lawsuit against the state of California because of this “technicality,” which is apparently preventing her from becoming a multimillionaire.

Calif. lottery winner could lose $63 million prize https://t.co/MB9p4ML3QQ via @usatoday

— Trowbridge Lofts (@TrowbridgeLofts) February 3, 2016

According to the report, Brandy claims that her winning California lottery ticket for SuperLotto Plus was initially submitted after the drawing was conducted on August 7, 2015. Several months later, though, she received a letter from the lottery commission in January informing her that she would not be receiving the money after all due to the condition of the submitted ticket.

Even though she has reportedly asked the commission numerous times to return her “damaged” lottery ticket, her requests were apparently denied. Therefore, it is not surprising that Brandy Milliner wants a judge to officially declare her as the winner of the $63 million California lottery winner, overriding the commission’s original decision.

As previously reported by the Inquisitr, this $63 million California lottery jackpot is just days away from officially being documented as unclaimed winnings. If that is the case, then it would also make history by becoming the largest prize in California lottery history to be categorized as unclaimed.

This is definitely not the first time that a lottery winner has been denied their big payday due to a technicality.

In this alleged case of Brandy Milliner and the $63 million California lottery jackpot, the technicality was due to a “damaged” ticket.

What happened in Roswell, New Mexico, last year was a little different. The condition of the ticket did play a key role in the technicality, but it was not damaged. One report claims that John Wines assumed he was the winner of a $500,000 instant lottery ticket purchased from a gas station.

After raising the issue with lottery officials in the state, it was later discovered that there was an error made when the ticket was first printed. The system failed to print a distinct second row of digits near the ones that were clear and visible on the ticket. Instead of walking away with $500,000 in lottery winnings, Mr. Wines was reportedly offered $100 in well-printed lottery tickets as compensation for the inconvenience.

“It’s like I told them, I didn’t misprint it. I bought the ticket in good faith thinking if I won I was going to get my money. And they told me no, they absolutely, positively told me no.”

Thousands of miles away from the California lottery, a couple in the United Kingdom, David and Edwina Nylan, missed out on $52 million due to a technical glitch in a smartphone application last December. The Huffington Post reports that the couple was excited about receiving the jackpot worth £35.4 million ($52M USD) by selecting all six winning numbers in the U.K. lottery.

When they called the U.K. lottery to claim their winnings, the couple was told by a representative that they had officially entered the drawing too late.

“We’ve tried to have a laugh about it but we’re completely distraught. We’ve spent years paying out for the lottery and this money could have changed our lives. We feel like we’ve been cheated out of it.”

David and Edwina used a smartphone app to buy their “winning” lottery ticket in late December. They received an alert that their account required additional funds to finalize the purchase, so they added more money. The couple claimed that they then purchased the ticket after choosing six numbers at random. However, lottery officials reported that there was no record on file of that particular purchase.

Couple says they were cheated out of $52 million lottery winnings. Details: https://t.co/uMkQsBQd4G #TheCruzShow pic.twitter.com/fwAuYb60OZ

— Power 106 (@Power106LA) January 6, 2016

A spokeswoman opened up to the Telegraph about the situation, explaining what would have happened if the couple successfully purchased their ticket. According to her statement, a successful purchase leads to “a purchase confirmation screen” followed by “an email confirming their purchase.” The customer is then “able to see the ticket in their National Lottery online account.”

Further studies confirmed that David and Edwina’s payment was processed. Unfortunately, it did not go through until midnight, December 24, which was past the scheduled deadline.

Only time will tell whether or not Brandy Milliner is added to the list of lottery winners that did not receive their winnings due to a technicality. Reports confirm that the $63 million California lottery jackpot must be claimed before Thursday, February 4, before it is officially reported as unclaimed in the history books.

[Image Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images]