Ticket "Owner" data duplication?

In poking around with the database, it looks like a ticket’s “Owner” is
stored in two places:

(1) in the "Tickets" table
(2) in a role-based group membership in the "Groups" and

“GroupMembers” tables

So…just out of curiosity, is it correct that the same data is being
stored in both locations (If so, is there a specific reason?), or is
there a chance they could differ? (Under what circumstances?)

Mark Roedel
Senior Programmer / Analyst
LeTourneau University