Lawyers dispute polygraph tests in White Marlin Open case

The trial over who gets to claim the 2016 White Marlin Open fishing title and $2.8 million in winnings will continue until after Memorial Day weekend.

The dispute over the outcome of last year's tournament in Ocean City opened May 22 in U.S. District Court in Baltimore with testimony focused on polygraph tests administered on organizers’ behalf to the winner, Phil Heasley of Naples, Florida. It is expected to pick up again Tuesday.

The trial was moved to Baltimore from Worcester County last year.

Joe Moore, attorney for the White Marlin Open Inc., declined to comment Friday about the case because the trial is ongoing.

BACKGROUND: White Marlin Open says winner lied, broke rules

Heasley was crowned the winner after catching the event’s biggest white marlin, but the winnings were withheld from Heasley and his boat mates on the Kallianassa after failing polygraph tests, according to tournament officials.

Heasley had brought in a 76.5-pound white marlin, the sole qualifying white marlin vying for the grand prize of $2.8 million.

However, examination of catch logs by the tournament brought suspicion that Heasley and the crew of the Kallianassa had not followed the rules of the tournament, so officials withheld the prize money shortly after the August tournament ended. 

Heasley and his crew have maintained they did nothing wrong.

Tournament attorneys called an expert witness to validate the tests’ legitimacy, but Heasley’s lawyers tried to chip away at that legitimacy, according to media reports.

If Heasley loses the case, the winnings will be divided up among more than a dozen other fishermen.

The Associated Press and Daily Times Staff Writer Ryan Marshall contributed to this report.