Twin Describes Attack, Testifies About Fights With Sister

Twin sisters Jeen and Sunny Han, once co-valedictorians in high school, faced each other in court Monday as Sunny calmly recounted a stormy relationship that prosecutors say culminated in a plot by Jeen to kill her.

Jeen Han is charged with conspiring with two teenagers to murder Sunny, 23, last November. The three defendants, who have pleaded not guilty, face sentences of 25 years to life if convicted.

Sunny Han testified that she had slept until 2:30 p.m. on Nov. 6 and was taking a shower when she heard roommate Helen Kim yell, “Please don’t hurt me! Take anything you want.”

Sunny said she managed to call 911 from the bathroom before one of the assailants discovered her.

In court she identified defendant Archie Bryant, 17, as the person with a gun who bound and gagged her and Kim before police arrived. She testified that he told her, “Shut up, don’t say anything. Otherwise I’ll have to kill you or shoot you.”

Sunny said she did not see the face of another assailant she believes was in the apartment. John Sayarth, 17, is charged with being the other attacker. Both Bryant and Sayarth are being tried as adults.

Bryant, she testified, asked her to tell police “it was a big joke. Nothing happened. We were just playing games.”

Irvine police said Jeen wanted her sister dead so she could assume Sunny’s identity and escape a past that included credit card fraud. In opening arguments last week, prosecutor Bruce Moore stressed the feuding between the two women as a motive for murder.

Defense attorneys attempted to show that the two sisters often argued, and that what happened that day was a misguided, angry outburst rather than a murder plot.

Public defender Roger Alexander said Jeen had enlisted the help of her two co-defendants to retrieve her clothing from Sunny’s Irvine apartment. He said Jeen feared her sister, who once had hit her in the face.

“They both loved each other, yet they had these wild fights,” Alexander said outside the courtroom.

Sunny acknowledged that the two sisters bit, scratched and fought with each other, but said they still were close.

“We’re sisters,” she testified. “We fight.”

Although Sunny Han barely looked at her twin during her 1 1/2 hours of testimony, she did flash a quick smile to her as the proceedings began.