Case against White Marlin winner remains in federal court
The White Marlin Open case against 2016 winner Phillip Heasley will remain in federal court as the judge denies a motion to remand the legal dispute back to Worcester County district court.
Presiding judge Richard Bennett ruled against White Marlin Open's Mark Hutchinson, who moved to bypass the official rules of the tournament and use the results of a post-win polygraph against Heasley, court documents state.
On Aug. 16, Heasley, of Naples, Florida, was announced the winner of the White Marlin Open, with a 76-pound white marlin netting him a purse of just over $2.8 million. However, on Aug. 23, officials from the White Marlin Open announced they would be withholding the prize money, as they believed Heasley, as well of the crew of his ship, the Kallianassa, had broken tournament rules. Heasley subsequently failed a lie detector test.
The case was moved to federal court on Sept. 8.
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Heasley's affidavit, sent from his attorney Chris Sullivan, said that he denies any allegations of wrong-doing, and followed all tournament rules to the best of his ability, including not angling before 8:30 a.m., the official start time. The White Marlin Open contends that Heasley did start before the 8:30 a.m.
Additionally, Heasley said that the White Marlin Open's officials denied an opportunity to view his on board computer and GPS system, and instead opted to administer a series of polygraph tests. Heasley said these tests asked only generalities, and did not specify exact tournament violations. He was also allegedly denied the opportunity to bring forward neutral witnesses or obtain a second polygraph test.
Heasley also said the tournament violated its own rules in handling the polygraph, by having a third party, Elmer Criswell,evaluate the polygraph test and make a determination. Heasley said he had never met Criswell, and that tournament rules state the test is to be evaluated solely by the administrator.
As well as staying in federal court, the case will be realigned. Fellow winners of the White Marlin Open, who stand to share the prize money should Heasley be ultimately ruled as having cheated, have been moved from the defendant side to the plaintiff side. Heasley now stands as the sole defendant in the case.
The organization has been ordered to place the entirety of the prize money into possession of the court within 10 days.