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Powerball winner Edwin Castro’s lotto rival hires famed defense lawyer who represented Michael Jackson’s ‘killer’ doctor
The gardener is not backing down after claiming he bought the winning ticket
POWERBALL winner Edwin Castro's rival has hired the defense attorney who represented Michael Jackson's disgraced doctor Conrad Murray, The U.S. Sun has learned.
Lawyer John Michael Flanagan represented Murray through his trial and his manslaughter conviction for his role in the pop superstar's death.
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Los Angeles gardener Jose Rivera was back fighting in court in Pasadena on Wednesday after being charged with filing a false police complaint over his lawsuit accusing Castro of stealing the winning lottery ticket from him.
Rivera has been battling Castro for more than a year, after he scooped the $2.04 billion jackpot in November 2022.
Although the California Lottery is backing Castro, 32, Rivera is suing him in civil court in Alhambra, despite being charged by police, who claim he wasted time and resources.
The U.S. Sun spoke to Rivera in court after he hired attorney John Michael Flanagan, a veteran Glendale lawyer who represented Murray.
Read more on Edwin Castro
Despite previously claiming he was "broke," Rivera said he's paying for Flanagan to represent him in both his civil and criminal cases.
"I feel like I've won the lotto again, it's going to be fun," he said.
During the hearing for his criminal case this week, Judge Donna Hollingsworth spoke to Flanagan who appeared via video call.
The attorney confirmed he had taken over the case, saying: "I was there this morning and picked up the discovery from the public defender which is about six or seven inches thick."
Most read in The US Sun
Edwin Castro's rival Jose Rivera claims pizza photo will prove he owns $2bn lottery ticket as court battle rumbles on
Flanagan added he had spoken to the district attorney and asked for the case to be continued, which was granted.
Rivera, who has pleaded not guilty in the case, will next appear in court on July 8, 2024.
He is also back in court for his civil case on July 25 in Alhambra.
"I went to church this Sunday and I hadn't been to church for a month and a half," Rivera also told The U.S. Sun on Wednesday.
"I'm not exactly working right now, but I'm going to start looking for something serious because this is going to cost money.
"I get no benefits, I get support from family, but it's not the same, they have their own problems.
"I want something stable, they have supported me enough. I've got to get up on my feet again."
Edwin Castro's Powerball win timeline
When and why Castro got sued
On November 7, 2022, Castro bought a winning Powerball ticket at Joe's Service Center in Altadena, California.
The grand prize was $2.04 billion at the time - the largest in US history.
On February 14, 2023, the California Lottery announced Castro's win, and he took home a one-time lump sum payment of $997.6 million.
Castro's identity was released, but little information was known about the former mechanic.
In May 2023, Jose Rivera, a gardener from California, filed a lawsuit claiming that he was the rightful owner of the golden ticket.
Rivera claimed his former landlord Urachi F. Romero stole the ticket before it ended up in Castro's hands.
Since filing the suit, Rivera has been charged with filing a false police report and was ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation by a judge.
However, Rivera pleaded not guilty to the charge, passed the evaluation, and continues to defend his story.
MURRAY'S JAIL TIME
Conrad Murray hit the headlines after he was charged and convicted of involuntary manslaughter for Michael Jackson's death in 2009 after reportedly giving him propofol for two months to help treat his insomnia.
At his sentencing, Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor called him "a disgrace to the medical profession."
Flanagan was part of Murray's legal team until after he was convicted.
But in 2013, he dropped his client during his fight against the California Medical Board to get his medical license reinstated, per Radar Online.
Murray was hired by promoters, AEG Live, to be Jackon's physician in May 2009, ahead of the late star's This Is It residency in London.
Despite his conviction, Murray only served two years of his four-year prison sentence.
On June 25, 2009, he found Jackson in bed and not breathing and performed CPR for 42 minutes before Jackson was taken to the hospital.
The 50-year-old star was pronounced dead a few hours later, and an autopsy showed he died of an overdose of drugs, namely propofol.
Read More on The US Sun
In an exclusive interview with The Sun in 2019, Murray revealed he is practicing medicine in the Caribbean but wants to reinstate his medical license in the US.
He also said he's building a medical center there for patients with cardiovascular disease and other ailments.
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