Status of Trial Uncertain as Twin Leaves Hospital

Two days after she took an overdose of sleeping pills, Sunny Han was released from the hospital Thursday afternoon, but she was unable to appear in Orange County Superior Court to continue testifying against her twin sister.

Sunny Han’s overdose, which caused her to nearly collapse on the witness stand Tuesday, continued to cast a shadow over the trial of Jeen Han and two teenagers accused of plotting her murder.

The case could come to a grinding halt and possibly end in a mistrial if the 23-year-old victim is unable to return to the witness stand on Monday, as expected, defense attorneys said.

Jurors heard her testify for the prosecution, but Sunny Han arrived in court the next day barely able to stand, much less continue with cross-examination by the defense.

“If she’s unable to continue at all, it could potentially result in a mistrial,” said Salvatore P. Ciulla, attorney for co-defendant John Sayarath.

Ciulla said the three defense attorneys would be able to begin their cases until Sunny Han’s testimony is complete. The prosecution expects to complete its case Monday if she does return.

Deputy Public Defender Roger Alexander, who is representing Jeen Han, charged that the prosecution was concealing information about Sunny Han’s medical condition. Visibly angry, Alexander complained to Judge Eileen C. Moore that he learned details from newspaper accounts instead of from the prosecution.

Alexander said he had not been aware that Placentia police officers had searched Sunny Han’s house or that she had ingested 35 over-the-counter sleeping pills washed down with a bottle of beer.

“Why were we not told of this information?” Alexander asked. “This is all pertinent information. She’s an alleged victim. It goes to her credibility.”

According to a police report given to defense attorneys Thursday afternoon, police found three bottles of sleeping pills in the young woman’s Placentia home, and 35 tablets were missing. Also found was an empty bottle of beer, according to the report.

Ciulla told the judge that prior to Sunny Han taking the stand again, he intends to subpoena her medical records to determine if there was anything more than sleeping pills and beer involved in Tuesday’s incident.

“We have reason to believe there’s more to it than sleeping pills,” Ciulla told the judge. “We want to know if her testimony Monday or from before was colored.”

Sunny Han was to return to Western Medical Center-Santa Ana today for a checkup and underwent a psychiatric evaluation on Thursday, Irvine Police Det. Victor Ray told Judge Moore.

Outside court, Alexander speculated that the pressure of testifying against her identical twin may have been too much for Sunny Han.

“I think it all just piled up on her all at once,” he said. “Right now, the primary concern is that she’s OK. There’s no reason we have to rush her out here.”

The twin accused of plotting Sunny Han’s murder at first believed her sister might have been exaggerating on the day she appeared in court dazed and unable to stand on her own, Alexander said.

“As the days go on, she’s realizing just how serious it is,” he said.

Jeen Han, 16-year-old Sayarath and 16-year-old Archie Bryant have pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit murder, burglary, false imprisonment and other charges in connection to a Nov. 6, 1996, attack on Sunny Han and her roommate, Helen Kim.

The two women were bound and gagged and held at gunpoint by two men before they were interrupted by police.

Defense attorneys said Thursday they have not yet decided if any of their clients will testify in their own defense. The defendants contend that they never intended to harm Sunny Han but had driven to the apartment to retrieve some of Jeen Han’s belongings that her sister had refused to return.