For Sharon Jones, being at a Super One Stop in July 2011 and going to a trash bin to pick up the discarded lottery tickets was something normal, as she had done this many times before. The reason behind this is because there is a program through the lottery commission website that allows people to register non-winning tickets for points that they can use to work towards prizes. Lottery winning numbers

“On Sunday, as was a routine, my client and her husband sit around and enter these tickets in the program,” Jones’ attorney Winston Collier told ABCNews.com. But, it wouldn’t give them any points on this one ticket.”

That’s when they realized the ticket was not completely scratched off. “It was, in fact, not a losing lottery ticket and not only that, but it’s worth a million dollars,” Collier said. “Thus a controversy was born.”

Back then, Jones turned in the ticket and received a check for $680,000, and after, as always, the lottery commission began confirming all winning tickets. In the process, surveillance footage showed Jones grabbing a handful of discarded tickets from the trash bin.

After seeing the footage, the store manager, Lisa Petriches, claimed customers were not allowed to do that as she and the manager had agree that those tickets belonged to her. State lottery

So, Petriches filed a lawsuit against Jones, claiming the winning ticket was hers. Petriches also claimed that there was a “Do Not Take” sign on the bin.

“We really don’t believe that Lisa Petriches has any claim whatsoever,” Jones’ attorney Jimmy Simpson said.

“She’s saying those tickets were hers, but you’ve got all these people saying they weren’t.”

Simpson said many customers are willing to testify that it was common for customers to grab tickets from the bin and that that there was no sign at the time Jones did so.

“Our theory is that it was abandoned property,” Collier said. “Once someone has abandoned it, it becomes the property of the first possessor.”

“From our perspective, the person who won is the winner, the person who brought it in,” Julie Baldridge, the interim director of public affairs and legislative relations for the Arkansas Lottery Commission told ABCNews.com. “We don’t take a position on ownership. It’s whoever comes to our claims office with their signature on the back.”

Baldridge said that now it’s up to a judge to decide who the ticket belongs to.

But now, a third party entered the equation this week when Sharon Duncan says she originally purchased bought the ticket and so, the jackpot is hers. Attorneys are meeting with the lottery commission on Monday to determine if there is a way to confirm the ticket’s ownership.

The two parties originally involved in the case appeared before a judge on Wednesday but the judge dismissed them saying all parties, including Duncan, need to be present.

The $680,000 winnings are frozen, but Collier said that his client already spent some money to buy a used car.

“She is a salt of the earth woman,” Collier said. “I recognized her when she came into my office because she used to work at a mom and pop cafe for years and years. She’s a friendly person, but she’s had to double her blood pressure medication.”

The next court date has not yet been set.