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POLICE officers said they intend to consult with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions if any charges can be laid against head of the Special Operations Response Team (SORT) Insp Mark Hernandez as they wrapped up their investigations on Saturday.
Hernandez took part in an identification parade on Saturday after it was postponed on Friday because police could not find enough people fitting his description to stand alongside him.
Police said they were investigating Hernandez in relation to allegations of assault against a man during SORT's investigations into the disappearance of court clerk Andrea Bharatt.
Investigators said, based on the evidence gathered, they were leaning towards the possible charge of misbehaviour in public office.
Late Friday night, attorneys representing Hernandez filed a writ for a habeas corpus, claiming that the client's detention was an "orchestrated and pre-meditated" plot to tarnish Hernandez's reputation because he was nominated for the position of Deputy Commissioner of Police.
Attorneys Wayne Sturge, Alexia Romero, Mario Merritt and John Heath on Friday issued a pre-action protocol letter calling on the police to justify their client's detention since 6.45 am on Wednesday.
Hernandez, an officer of 23 years, and a woman police officer Laura Gadar, also assigned to SORT, had been detained on Wednesday, in relation to allegations made by man who claimed he was beaten while in custody.
Gadar, through her attorney Darren Mitchell, has petitioned the High Court for a writ of habeas corpus. In the application, Mitchell said his client is a dedicated police officer with eight years service. Gadar was arrested at 6.45 am on Wednesday at SORT headquarters at the regiment's Camp Cumuto. They both remained in police custody on Saturday night.
She had been moved from the Maloney Police Station to St Joseph for two failed attempts of an identification parade. Mitchell said he sent a pre-action protocol letter to Griffith and received no response up to Saturday.
In his pre-action letter to Police Commissioner Gary Griffith on Friday, Sturge told Griffith it appeared that Hernandez was interviewed with the expectation that he “would reveal evidence that would allow him to self-incriminate himself in the commission of criminal offences” so that he could be charged.
Sturge said this was “clearly unlawful in the extreme.” He added, “My client has been the subject of this type of action since the time that he subjected himself to this interview process."
"What has been pellucidly clear is that, at present, the investigating officers have no evidence that my client was involved in the commission of any criminal offence."
In response to the the pre-action protocol letter, the police service's legal officer Kumar Ramsaran said Hernandez’s general health and well-being were receiving the necessary attention and regular communication between him and one of his attorneys had been facilitated.
On Friday night, Hernandez's attorneys successfully petitioned the court to issue a writ of habeas corpus. The application was filed electronically in keeping with court emergency pandemic rules.
Hernandez’s wife also filed an affidavit in support of her husband’s application, saying for the past 23 years, he has dedicated his life to the service of the people of TT.
“He has daily risked his life to keep others safe.”
The two were the last of more than a dozen SORT police officers to be interviewed in relation to the deaths of murder and kidnapping suspects Andrew "Solo" Morris and Joel Balcon. A handful of soldiers were also questioned.
In addition to the deaths of Morris and Balcon while in custody, police are also investigating allegations of grievous bodily harm against another man, misbehaviour in public office and perverting the course of justice, according to the correspondence between the attorneys.
Morris and Balcon were held by SORT hours apart on January 30 in connection with the kidnapping of court clerk Andrea Bharatt. Two days after the arrest, Morris died, and Balcon died eight days later.
Autopsies concluded that they both died from blunt force trauma. Their relatives claimed they were beaten to death by police.
Bharatt's body was found down a precipice off Aripo Road on February 4 after she went missing on January 29.
Negus George has been charged with her murder.

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