On Monday (March 23), a civil jury in California found Bill Cosby liable for drugging and sexually assaulting a woman in 1972. Ultimately, the jury awarded Donna Motsinger $59.25 million.
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Woman Speaks After Lawsuit Win Against Bill Cosby
Jurors found Bill Cosby liable for the sexual battery and assault of Donna Motsinger after a nearly two-week trial. Deliberations lasted about two days. They awarded her $17.5 million in past damages and $1.75 million for future damages, including “mental suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, inconvenience, grief, anxiety, humiliation, and emotional distress.”
Then, in a second phase of the trial on Monday afternoon, they awarded an additional $40 million in punitive damages.
“This verdict is not just about me – it’s about finally being heard and holding Mr. Cosby accountable,” Motsinger said in a statement. “I have carried the weight of what happened to me for more than 50 years. It never goes away. Today, a jury saw the truth and held him accountable. That means everything. I hope this gives strength to other survivors who are still waiting for their moment to be heard.”
Bill Cosby has settled some similar lawsuits and has been ordered to pay in others. However, Monday’s award is likely the most he has had to pay in a case. In 2022, a jury in Santa Monica awarded $500,000 to a woman who said Cosby sexually assaulted her at the Playboy Mansion when she was a teenager in 1975.
Details About Donna Motsinger’s Allegations & Lawsuit
Donna Motsinger’s lawsuit echoed allegations of rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment made by at least 60 women against Bill Cosby. He has denied all of the allegations. The jury decision on Motsinger’s lawsuit came nearly five years after Cosby was freed from prison in Pennsylvania.
Donna Motsinger had been a server at a restaurant in Sausalito near San Francisco in the 1970s. She said in her lawsuit, filed in 2023, that Bill Cosby had invited her to his stand-up comedy show at a theater in nearby San Carlos. Both were in their 30s at the time. She said Cosby gave her wine and two pills that she believed were aspirin, and that she was going in and out of consciousness as two men put her in a limousine.
“She woke up in her house with all her clothes off, except her underwear on – no top, no bra, and no pants,” the lawsuit said. “She knew she had been drugged and raped by Bill Cosby.”
Motsinger’s lawsuit moved through the California courts with surprising speed. It took just 2 1/2 years from filing until verdict, while other lawsuits against him stalled.
“We are grateful to the jury for their careful attention to the evidence and to Ms. Motsinger for the extraordinary courage it took to come forward,” said Jesse Creed, one of her attorneys from the Panish Shea Ravipudi law firm that represented her.
Cosby’s Lawyer Speaks Out
In court filings, Bill Cosby’s lawyers argued that Donna Motsinger’s allegations rested almost entirely on speculation and assumption. They said Motsinger “freely admits that she has no idea what happened.”
Cosby did not testify at the trial. Witnesses included Andrea Constand, a Temple University sports administrator. In 2018, a Pennsylvania criminal court convicted Cosby of assaulting Andrea. However, the state’s Supreme Court threw out the verdict in 2021. In turn, Cosby was freed from prison after serving nearly three years of a three- to 10-year sentence.
After the initial award earlier Monday, Attorney Jennifer Bonjean said in an email that they are disappointed, per the Associated Press. Also, they fully intend to appeal the verdict. Bonjean did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the punitive damages.
Cosby was once widely known as “America’s Dad.” Then he became the first celebrity to be tried and convicted in the #MeToo era. His conviction was permanently overturned when the appeals court found that he gave incriminating testimony in a deposition only after believing he had immunity from prosecution.
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Associated Press Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton contributed to this report via AP Newsroom.
