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KXAN.com:

AUSTIN (KXAN) - A Texas judge has ordered Texas Lottery officials to answer questions under oath in the case of Willis Willis, whose $1 million lottery ticket was allegedly stolen by a Texas Lottery agent at a Grand Prairie convenience store in 2009.

The Friday decision came after Texas Lottery officials consistently blocked Willis' efforts to obtain information about the May 2009 theft of his winning ticket. Attorneys with Austin-based Howry Breen & Herman LLP filed a lawsuit against the Texas Lottery to help Willis reclaim his prize. 

"For years now, Mr. Willis has tried to get information about how this could have happened, and whether other lottery winners might have fallen prey to the same practice," said attorney Sean Breen. "Now, we will finally have answers to these very basic and very important questions."

In the ruling, 353rd District Court Judge Tim Sulak allowed Willis' attorneys to continue the discovery process and obtain sworn testimony from lottery officials. Attorneys have questions about how convenience store clerk Pankaj Joshi was able to claim Willis' lottery winnings.

Attorney Sean Breen quoted in KXAN.com news story

A frequent lottery player, Willis asked Joshi to check the numbers on his Mega Millions ticket. Joshi allegedly lied, telling Willis he had not won.

....

"There's no telling how many times other Texas Lottery players have been wronged," Breen said.

http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/texas/court-rules-in-favor-of-lottery-winner

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