Trial of Twin Against Twin Holds Worldwide Fascination

The U.S. correspondent for a major Paris weekly newsmagazine flew in from New York City. A producer from King World, which syndicates “Oprah” and other TV talk shows, also dropped by to survey the action.

Each day, an international crowd of television and print reporters jockey for a handful of front-row seats to one of Orange County’s most popular attractions: the murder conspiracy trial of Jeen Han, accused of plotting with two teenagers to kill her identical twin sister, Sunny.

The trial, now in its third week, has all the makings of a television movie, including the details of an alleged murder plot and a bitter feud between the 23-year-old sisters.

Adding to the intrigue one day last week was the arrival at court of Sunny Han, the alleged victim, dazed and barely able to stand. She had taken an overdose of sleeping pills and had to be rushed from Orange County Superior Court to the hospital.

Sunny Han’s dramatic courtroom appearance has caused the number of reporters and producers monitoring the trial to swell. Among them are reporters for several Korean-language newspapers who said readers are fascinated with the story of the sisters, who were co-valedictorians of their high school class.

“It’s the Korean community so we are very much interested in what is going on with Jeen and Sunny,” said Kijun Kwon, city editor of the Korea Times. “It is usually on our front page.”

Although it is her sister and two male teenagers who are on trial, the behavior of Sunny Han has dominated the case in recent days. The proceedings were halted Monday when Judge Eileen C. Moore refused to let defense attorneys examine Sunny Han’s medical and psychological records. They are now seeking a hearing on the matter before an appellate court.

Sunny Han told the judge that she took the overdose because of a fight with her mother and a breakup with her boyfriend, both of which occurred after her first day of testimony last week. The battle over the records of her three-day hospital stay has further delayed her return to the stand.

Jeen Han faces charges that she conspired with Archie Bryant and John Sayarath to kill her twin, who allegedly was able to call police in time to avoid harm. The three have pleaded not guilty and face 25 years to life in prison if convicted.

Sunny Han has gone on television several times and made it clear she thinks her sister is innocent. But she has nonetheless been a key prosecution witness, testifying that she was tied up and held at gunpoint by two men in her Irvine apartment on Nov. 6, 1996. The prosecution contends that Jeen Han was waiting outside the apartment.

“People are totally infatuated with this,” said KCBS reporter Dave Lopez. “Here you’ve got two young girls, supposedly very bright, who love each other very much, and they are involved in this weird, weird case.”

Lopez said that even though the trial is taking place more than 3,000 miles way, it regularly leads the 5:30 p.m. newscast on WCBS in New York City.

“They want the story every day,” he said.

Court TV spokeswoman Lynn Rosenstrach said her cable network is showing the trial live each day.

“Clearly the good-twin-versus-bad-twin element added drama and intrigue that we thought would catch the viewers’ eye,” Rosenstrach said. “There are also serious legal issues involved and serious consequences at stake.”

Court TV, which brought viewers gavel-to-gavel coverage of the O.J. Simpson criminal trial, is not available in any Orange County cities. Still, Rosenstrach said ratings of the trial coverage have been high for the network, which has juggled the Han case with the trial of British au pair Louise Woodward, found guilty in the death of an infant in her care, but freed from jail by a judge who reduced her second-degree murder conviction to involuntary manslaughter.

“We are choosing from hundreds of trials, so we need to have an element that has it stand out. The twin element certainly caught our attention,” Rosenstrach said.