Judge Denies Defense Request to Review Sunny Han’s Records

An Orange County Superior Court judge on Monday refused to let defense attorneys examine the medical and psychological records of Sunny Han, who took an overdose of sleeping pills during an overnight break in testifying against her twin sister, who is accused of plotting to have her murdered.

Han, 23, appeared to have recovered from the overdose that forced her to be rushed from the courtroom to the hospital last week. She seemed ready to continue her testimony against Jeen Han, but the debate over her medical records kept her from taking the stand.

Salvatore P. Ciulla, who is defending John Sayarath--one of two teens charged in the case--was expected to file a motion Monday with the 4th District Court of Appeal seeking to overturn the ruling of Judge Eileen Moore, who denied access to Sunny Han’s records.

Jeen Han, 16-year-old Sayarath and Archie Bryant, 17, have pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit murder, burglary, false imprisonment and other crimes in connection to the Nov. 6, 1996, attack on Sunny Han and her roommate, Helen Kim.

Although she doesn’t believe her sister masterminded the attack, as the prosecution contends, Sunny Han is required to render what could be damaging testimony against her twin. Defense attorneys wonder if the overdose, which Sunny Han attributed to a fight with her mother and a breakup with her boyfriend, was an attempt to avoid giving further testimony.

“Was it a real suicide attempt or just some dramatic effort on her part?” asked Deputy Public Defender Roger Alexander, Jeen Han’s attorney.

Ciulla said he wants to ask her about the overdose when she returns to the stand and needs the medical records to be able to challenge her answers if necessary. Defense attorneys say they also want to know if she is suffering from long-term depression and if she had any drugs in her system besides the 35 sleeping pills she told authorities she took. They believe such factors could have colored her testimony last week.

Prosecutor Bruce Moore argued that the overdose is “irrelevant to the case” and should not be mentioned in front of the jury. He said the defense is on a “fishing expedition.”

The trial was delayed until Wednesday, and Sunny Han won’t return to the stand until the matter of her medical records is ruled on by the appellate court.