‘Evil Twin,’ Teens Found Guilty on All Counts

Jeen Han choked back tears Thursday as she was convicted of conspiring to kill her identical twin in a trial that pitted sister against sister and played out like a television movie of the week.

The verdict concluded a four-week case that attracted international attention to the Korean-born twins, who were co-valedictorians of their high school class. Han, 23, now faces life in prison along with cohorts Archie Bryant, 17, and John Sayarath, 16.

The trio were found guilty on all charges--the most serious being two counts of conspiracy to commit murder--for the botched Nov. 6, 1996, attack on twin sister Sunny Han and her roommate Helen Kim, who were bound, gagged and blindfolded in their Irvine apartment moments before police burst in to rescue them.

The Orange County Superior Court jury of six men and six women deliberated for 10 hours over three days, and sat expressionless, rarely looking at the defendants, as the verdict was read. Afterward, jurors avoided talking to the attorneys in the case and were taken out a back entrance to avoid a throng of reporters and photographers. They were escorted from the courthouse in a county van with tinted windows.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Bruce Moore, who prosecuted the case, said he believes the jurors delivered the “right verdict and they should feel comfortable.”

“It was a vicious, violent crime,” Moore added.

Jeen Han’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Roger Alexander, said he was stunned by the verdict and does not believe the prosecution provided sufficient evidence to prove its conspiracy theory. He said that will be the basis for a motion for a new trial that he intends to file before the Jan. 16 sentencing.

“I’m shocked,” an ashen-faced Alexander said as he left the courtroom. “I didn’t see any way they could convict her of conspiracy to commit murder.”

Alexander partly blamed himself for the verdict, saying it might have made a difference if his client had testified on her own behalf, which she was discouraged from doing.

“They needed to hear Jeen tell her side of the story,” he said of his client, who wept throughout the proceedings. “She told me she couldn’t believe that anyone would think she’d want to kill her sister.”

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All three defendants were convicted of two counts of conspiracy to commit murder, first-degree burglary and two counts of false imprisonment by violence. The jury also found them guilty of weapons charges and Jeen Han was additionally convicted of second-degree burglary.

Sayarath’s attorney, Salvatore P. Ciulla, said his client was despondent over the verdict, and added that he doesn’t believe the defendants ever planned to kill anyone.

“He’s crying right now,” Ciulla said of Sayarath. “The last thing he said to me as I left his cell was, ‘Please call my mom.’ ”

Bryant’s attorney, Ernest Eady, said he found the verdict difficult to accept, although his client appeared resigned to his fate.

“I’ll go to my grave thinking he didn’t mean for anyone to be killed,” Eady said.

Alexander said his client feels guilty because her teenage co-defendants face prison. They had met Jeen Han only a day before the crimes.

“She knows this was stupid,” Alexander added.

Defense attorneys spoke of their surprise and dismay when told that peals of laughter could be heard coming from the jury room throughout the deliberations, including one outburst only minutes before jurors announced they had reached a verdict.

“That’s awful,” Alexander said. “I don’t know what they could have been laughing about. Maybe they didn’t realize how serious it is.”

The bizarre case was carried live on Court TV and made headlines overseas, especially among the Asian media, which were captivated by a tale that had all the makings of a television movie--and may very well make it to the small screen since it also captured the attention of producers.

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Early on, police dubbed it the case of the “good twin vs. the evil twin” and the trial saw testimony about the stormy relationship between the sometimes rival twins, who were abandoned by their mother, and forced to live with relatives.

Jeen Han ran afoul of the law after being arrested for using her sister’s credit cards and taking her sister’s car. That led to a feud that the prosecution said resulted in the failed murder plot.

The case hinged on whether the jury believed the defendants had indeed planned to kill anyone.

The prosecution painted Jeen Han as a cold and calculating schemer who in no uncertain terms wanted her twin dead. Witnesses testified that in the days leading up to the attack, Jeen Han freely asked several people if they would help her kill her sister. The prosecutor said that she finally found two willing accomplices in Bryant and Sayarath.

But defense attorneys had contended that there was never a murder plot. They said the three defendants--who denied the charges--had gone to Sunny Han’s apartment in Irvine only to retrieve some of Jeen Han’s belongings which the sister had refused to return.

The loaded gun, duct tape and twine they brought along was only to protect them in the event that any Asian gang members were inside the apartment, the defense insisted.

Bryant and Sayarath allegedly posed as magazine salesmen before bursting into Sunny Han’s apartment. The twin was inside her bedroom at the time, heard the scuffling and used her cellular telephone to call 911.

Bryant was caught inside the apartment and arrested at the scene while Jeen Han and Sayarath fled and were arrested later that day trying to rent a car in San Diego.

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At one point, the case appeared headed for a mistrial when Sunny Han took an excess of sleeping pills, and nearly collapsed in the courtroom before being rushed to a local emergency room for treatment.

“I think, in the end, that incident showed the continued victimization of [Sunny Han],” Moore said Thursday of the overdose. “She still has to deal with it.”

But Ciulla said he wishes that jurors--who were in another room at the time--could have witnessed that dramatic moment. Perhaps it could have made Sunny Han--who usually appeared in court well-dressed and in full makeup--a less credible witness, he said.

“The jurors never saw anyone fall down,” Ciulla said. “All they saw is the woman in the $1,500 pantsuit. They have no idea what she’s really like.”

Her overdose delayed the completion of her testimony by a week. When she returned, defense attorneys charged that she staged the incident to drum up more interest in the case. She acknowledged receiving offers of up to $300,000 for television deals.

In yet another twist, Sunny Han has been paid thousands of dollars to go on national television shows including “Hard Copy,” “Geraldo” and “Leeza” to say she does not believe her sister wanted her dead. But prosecutor Moore isn’t so sure.

“She knows all of the facts,” Moore said. “I think at some points she has thought that but I don’t know if she really believes it.”

Also contributing to this report were Times correspondents Hope Hamashige and Jeff Kass.