Bill Cosby found liable for drugging and sexually assaulting woman; Jury awards victim USD 19 million |
FILE – Bill Cosby arrives for his sentencing hearing at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Pa., on Sept. 24, 2018. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)
TRIGGER WARNING: The article contains references to rape and sexual assault.Bill Cosby has been found liable for drugging and sexually assaulting a woman in 1972. The Hollywood star lost the lawsuit after a civil jury in California found him liable for the sexual battery and assault of Donna Motsinger after a nearly two-week trial in Santa Monica. The 88-year-old Cosby has also been asked to pay the woman a total of USD 19.25 million.
Bill Cosby loses sexual assault lawsuit
Jurors awarded Motsinger USD 17.5 million in past damages and USD 1.75 million for future damages, including “mental suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, inconvenience, grief, anxiety, humiliation, and emotional distress.” They deliberated for just over a day. They can award even more in a punitive damages phase of the trial that starts later Monday.
Bill Cosby to appeal verdict
Cosby’s attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, said in an email to AP that they are disappointed and fully intend to appeal the verdict.The decision came nearly five years after Cosby was freed from prison in Pennsylvania when the state Supreme Court threw out a criminal conviction based on similar allegations.
About the sexual assault lawsuit
Motsinger first made her allegations anonymously in a 2005 lawsuit filed by Constand. She had been a server at a restaurant in Sausalito near San Francisco who said in her lawsuit, filed in 2023, that Cosby had invited her to his stand-up comedy show at a theatre 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 according to AP. “She knew she had been drugged and raped by Bill Cosby.”In court filings, Cosby’s lawyers argued that the allegations rested almost entirely on speculation and assumption, saying Motsinger “freely admits that she has no idea what happened.”
Bill Cosby freed from prison
Cosby did not testify at the trial, whose witnesses included Andrea Constand, the Temple University sports administrator he was convicted of sexually assaulting in a Pennsylvania criminal court in 2018. The state’s Supreme Court threw out the verdict and Cosby was freed from prison after serving nearly three years of a three-to-10-year sentence.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.
Bill Cosby first celebrity to be tried and convicted in #MeToo era
The former stand-up comedy and television superstar once widely known as “America’s Dad” became the first celebrity tried and convicted in the #MeToo era before his conviction was permanently thrown out when appeals court found he gave incriminating testimony in a deposition only after believing he had immunity from prosecution.Disclaimer: This report is a journalistic account of a recent court development. While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy based on available information, this is not a substitute for the official court order or legal advice. The final ruling, which will be published by the court, is the definitive source of information. This article serves as a report on the current status of the case and should not be considered legal guidance.
