## Facts

- Amir Massihzadeh held one of three tickets matching the numbers drawn for a $4.8 million Colorado Lotto jackpot on November 23, 2005.
- The lottery director certified the drawing results, and the Colorado Lottery Division treated all three matching tickets as winning tickets.
- The Division paid each ticket holder one-third of the jackpot; Massihzadeh elected a lump-sum option and received $568,990 after taxes.
- Years later, the Division learned the other two “winning” tickets were obtained through a fraud scheme involving advance knowledge of likely winning numbers.
- Colorado obtained restitution equal to the payouts on the two fraudulent tickets ($1,137,980) as part of a nonprosecution agreement.
- Massihzadeh sued the Division and the Lottery Director (official capacity), seeking the remaining two-thirds of the jackpot on the theory that he was the only legitimate winner.

## Issues

1. Whether an innocent holder of a certified winning ticket may recover the entire jackpot after later discovery that other winning tickets were fraudulent.
2. Whether Colo. Rev. Stat. § 44-40-113(4), discharging the Division from all liability upon payment of any prize, bars claims for additional payment after the plaintiff already received and accepted a prize.

## Decision

- The Colorado Court of Appeals affirmed dismissal under C.R.C.P. 12(b)(5).
- The court held that the Division’s payment to Massihzadeh of his one-third share constituted payment of “any prize” under § 44-40-113(4).
- Because a prize was paid and accepted, the statute discharged the Division from all liability to Massihzadeh concerning further claims for that drawing.
- The later discovery that the other two tickets were fraudulent did not negate the statutory discharge or create a duty to pay Massihzadeh additional funds.

## Legal Principles

- Under Colo. Rev. Stat. § 44-40-113(4), the lottery division is discharged from all liability to a winning ticket holder upon payment of any prize for that ticket.
- “Any prize” is not limited to payment of the maximum possible amount; it includes a partial payout made under the governing payout structure for the certified drawing.
- The statutory discharge applies even if later events reveal fraud affecting other purported winners, so long as the division paid a prize on the plaintiff’s certified winning ticket.

## Conclusion

The court held that once the Lottery Division paid and Massihzadeh accepted his one-third prize, the discharge statute barred any later suit seeking reallocation of the jackpot based on after-discovered fraud by other ticket holders.


Massihzadeh v. Seaver, 457 P.3d 739 (Colo. App. 2019)