BOSTON (AP) – The state’s high court cleared the way Tuesday for the prosecution of a septuagenarian former Lottery worker accused of stealing money and lottery tickets from the agency.
The Supreme Judicial Court overruled a lower court decision that suppressed incriminating comments made by Maxine Sneed, then 70, when she was questioned in her home in 1999 by a state police officer and a lottery investigator.
Because she was not in custody, the court ruled, the investigators did not need to read Sneed her Miranda warnings, informing her of her rights.
The court sent the case back to the Boston Municipal Court for further action.
Former Treasurer Shannon O’Brien fired Sneed, a 23-year veteran of the agency, in 1999 after an audit found at least $24,000 missing from the Lottery’s Boston office.
The attorney general’s office accused Sneed of taking money for her personal use from her cash drawer and stealing scratch tickets. Three other employees were suspended.
A spokeswoman for Attorney General Tom Reilly said his office will continue with its prosecution of Sneed.
AP-ES-10-14-03 1636EDT
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