City
and County of Denver District Court No. 17CV33699. Honorable
Brian R. Whitney, Judge.
COUNSEL:
Recht
Kornfeld, P.C., Thomas M. Rogers III, Denver, Colorado; Lewis
Roca Rothgerber Christie LLP, Hermine Kallman, Denver,
Colorado; The Law Offices of Robert R. Duncan, LLC, Robert R.
Duncan, Denver, Colorado, for Plaintiff-Appellant.
Philip
J. Weiser, Attorney General, Robert H. Dodd, First Assistant
Attorney General, Cynthia P. Delaney, Assistant Attorney
General, Robert Padjen, Assistant Attorney General, Denver,
Colorado, for Defendants-Appellees.
Judges: Opinion by JUDGE TAUBMAN. Berger and
Tow, JJ., concur.
OPINION
TAUBMAN, JUDGE
Page 740
[¶ 1] What transpires when a person, who was one of
three lottery winners, turns out to be the only true lottery
winner following the discovery of fraud that invalidated the
other two tickets? Is the innocent winner entitled to the
full jackpot?
[¶ 2] Plaintiff, Amir Massihzadeh, seeks to
resolve this question in appealing the district court's
judgment granting the motion to dismiss of defendants, the
Colorado State Lottery Division (the Division) and Tom
Seaver, in his official capacity as Colorado Lottery
Director.[1] We agree with the district court
that Massihzadeh's claims are barred by statute.
I.
Background
[¶ 3] Massihzadeh held one of three lottery
tickets containing the combination of numbers matching those
drawn in the November 23, 2005 Lotto for a $4.8 million
jackpot. After the Division director certified the results
and all three tickets became " winning tickets,"
the Division distributed one-third of the jackpot to each
winning ticket holder.
[¶ 4] Tommy Tipton transferred the second
winning ticket to another individual, and a third party,
Cuestion de Suerte, LLC, redeemed the third winning ticket.
Thus, Massihzadeh, the other individual, and Cuestion de
Suerte each received a lump sum of $568,990 — one-third
of the jackpot prize after taxes. This was the reduced amount
based on the winners' elections to receive a lump sum
payout rather than installments paid over the course of
several years.
[¶ 5] According to the 2005 Lottery Division
Rules, the Division was required to hold a random drawing of
six numbers, certify the drawing and announce the winning
combination, and pay the prize. Lottery Rules 10.A.4, 10.A.5,
1 Code Colo.Regs. 206-1 (effective until Dec. 31, 2006). The
Division held what it believed was a random ...