NYC Woman Sentenced For Branding Ex-Lover

College Student Tasered, Then Scarred Man After He Had Sex With Her And Didn't Call Afterwards

(AP)  A college student who branded a former lover's body with a scalding piece of metal as payback for never calling her after they had sex was sentenced to five years in prison Friday.

Kristina Caban, 23, had no comment as state Supreme Court Justice Michael Obus sentenced her for what he called a crime that was "not remotely justifiable."

Assistant District Attorney Nicole Blumberg told Obus that Caban was the "mastermind behind the plan" to sear the torso of Samir "Sammy" Sara, then 23, for having sex with her once in 2004 and never calling her again.

Caban enlisted new boyfriend Robert Testagrossa to help brand a four-inch-high "R" on Sara's abdomen in October 2006, the prosecutor said. She said Caban lured the former lover to a hotel room, where Testagrossa and another man grabbed him.

Blumberg said the men used a Taser to immobilize Sara in a room at the Chelsea Inn while Caban laughed at his distress and kicked him while he was down.

The branding "iron" was actually a length of metal wire fashioned into a "R" - heated, and applied to Sara's torso, said Tracy Golden of the Manhattan district attorney's office. She said prosecutors did not know what the "R" stood for.

Caban and Testagrossa, 27, pleaded guilty to assault in August 2007 in exchange for five-year sentences. Testagrossa was sentenced in February and Caban, a photography student, was allowed to graduate from the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan before going to prison.

Blumberg said the third assailant remains at large.

He said Sara will have a permanent, tragic memento of his encounter with Caban.

Caban's lawyer, James Friedman said, "She's a good kid, despite the picture painted of her, who exercised poor judgment and got herself into a bad situation. She is not the monster the prosecution made her out to be."

Caban's father, Rafael Caban, 55, is a retired Correction Department captain.

Testagrossa is the son of two prosecutors. His father Charles is the executive assistant district attorney in Queens who prosecuted the Sean Bell police shooting case. His mother is a lawyer in the Nassau County district attorney's office.

[dobbershome]

Should of called her back. Nothing worse than a scorn woman.

[blackyowe]

I would say she really deserved that sentance. What madness, they tased the poor guy and kicked him too besides branding him. This girl needs some serious mental health care. That is probably why he never called her for a second date eh?

[edgardebbins]

Well, actually, Caban IS a monster. I''m sure she''ll have fun in the Joint.

[avigil2]

Women (not all, but most) are crazy!

[lpgideon]

All these other explanations for the "R." Why not the most obvious? His first name starts with an"R."

[billatmsn]

I goggled Kristina Caban
http://www.gothamist.com/archives/2006/10/29/woman_brands_he.php
She ain''t half-bad, I would do her in a pinch. But she ain''t worth getting a tatoo over.

hey shouldn''''t have branded him, but it does sound like the victim was an immature idiot as well. Looks like they all got what they deserve.

Posted by tmcoop

That is pure cr*ap. The guy should be allowed to brand her in a most prominent place. She needs to stay in jail for at least 10 years...she got off easy.

She should also be required to pay for his medical, and plastic surgery.

[usmcvn2]

What we need here is a law to band branding irons!! However could it be that branding irons don''t brand people, people brand people!

[mo005]

I went on a date with a girl once( she was so beautiful). The next day I was talking to a girl at the gas station that I had had as a patient a few years earlier, when this girl walks up and starts hitting me. I asked her what was her problem, and she accused me of going out on her. She was yelling at me right in front of this other girl. I finally got pissed and said hey I havent seen this person in a couple of years and whats it to you anyways. I said we went on one date thought you were cute but strange. I then told her that we would not be seeing each other again and I left. I saw her at a bar a couple of months later, she was running this dude all over the bar like a puppy( treating him like cr-ap). I knew I''d made a good decision after that. Some of these people out there are just plain wierd.

[tmcoop]

They shouldn''t have branded him, but it does sound like the victim was an immature idiot as well. Looks like they all got what they deserve.

[neosailor]

"Caban''s lawyer, James Friedman said, "She''s a good kid, despite the picture painted of her, who exercised poor judgment and got herself into a bad situation. She is not the monster the prosecution made her out to be.""
Mr. Friedman, your client deserves the best defense available but not your apologetics. This was a very violent, and I am sure terrifying, premeditated act. An excuse of poor judgement might be applicable if this was done suddenly, without time for reflection. She was not a "good kid" when she promoted this act of revenge. "Poor judgement"???? Anyone raised with any decent values would not need "judgement" to know that this was criminal, vicious, and uncalled for. What the f%^k is wrong in this country where people think otherwise!

[dmorg4c]

I think the R is Revenge or Rape one or the other

[boyntonbe]

Hey---did anyone tell Sara he could sue the perps in civil court???? I don''t have a law degree but would sure like to take that case.

[boyntonbe]

Where the heck is the other assailant??? After all this time and sentence pleading he is still at large?? Wouldn''t a plea deal involve fessing up who ALL the people involved were???

Also, Testagross-out''s 5 years seems good, but Caban should have gotten 10 years for her emotional stupidity. Oh, I forgot, being stupid is not against the law.

[toldyouso12]

I should have known. You are too well informed to be American.

Posted by jmcgilvray at 10:18 AM : Jun 15, 2008


Hey, Aussie!!! We resemble that remark!! LOL

[toldyouso12]

Branded...He was the one that ran....What do you do when your branded...but you know youre a man. Hahahah
I am sure most of you are to young to remember the Chuck Connors series "Branded". This is why you wait until you have a ring on your finger and he says "I do". You know the old story, Why buy the cow when the milk is free. Well the heifer definately got the jump on that old bull.

Posted by onlythereal at 09:46 AM : Jun 15, 2008


LOL. We used to change that song into "Stranded...but you know you''re a man--what do you do when you''re stranded and you know you''re a man? To prove you''re a man---you must wipe "it" with your hand"

Those were the days--remember "The Name of the Game" "High Chapparal" and "Mannix"? Great shows...."It takes a Thief..." LOL

[toldyouso12]

LOL..what a psycho beaotch!! ; ) Hey toldyouso12, you normally navigate this pages only to leave comments? What a social life you have, must be a memorable event when real people talk to you!! ; )

Posted by CerberusII at 01:59 PM : Jun 15, 2008


..you mean you''re not real? LMAO

[toldyouso12]

Or, the guy who stares at the last box of Cornflakes on the shelf, you want them but you dont want to be rude and just grab em up however, he can''''t make up his mind to buy them or not so you wait and wait. Is he gonna get it or just stand there and stare at em?? Should I grab it and go? Or, just beat the h*ll out of him and walk off with the box. Yep, just one bad day away... Rather you are good or not. Still doesnt make what she did right... I guess that guys weenie was to good to let it all go after 2 years

Posted by gheemaster38 at 02:03 PM : Jun 15, 2008


I was with you--until the cornflakes remark--how about just going to another store--for that one? Just as long as some slow moving guy does not get in your way....LOL

[gheemaster38]

Good people don''''t do things like that. Period.

Posted by denn034

I read somewhere once that, "Everyone is just one very bad day from going insane." It doesnt matter how "good" you think you are or others may think you are. Just think about the person that cuts you off on the freeway then slows down to 40 in a 65 mph highway right infront of you when you are late or in a hurry. Wouldn''t you just love to ram him off the road? Or, the guy who stares at the last box of Cornflakes on the shelf, you want them but you dont want to be rude and just grab em up however, he can''t make up his mind to buy them or not so you wait and wait. Is he gonna get it or just stand there and stare at em?? Should I grab it and go? Or, just beat the h*ll out of him and walk off with the box. Yep, just one bad day away... Rather you are good or not. Still doesnt make what she did right... I guess that guys weenie was to good to let it all go after 2 years

[curious_mind]

Mercy me, I think I had better go back about 20 years and call every FINE UPSTANDING LADY I ever got horizontal with and later ignored. This could become another Bobbit fad.
Where is my address book? I had better start now.