SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Jurors in a California civil trial on Monday found that actor-comedian Bill Cosby was liable for drugging and sexually assaulting a waitress in 1972 and awarded the woman $59.25 million.
After a trial that took nearly two weeks and three days of deliberations in Los Angeles Superior Court, jurors decided that Donna Motsinger, one of dozens of people who claimed to be victims of the “Cosby Show” star, should be awarded $17.5 million in past damages and $1.75 million for future damages, The Associated Press reported.
The $19.25 million total included compensation for “mental suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, inconvenience, grief, anxiety, humiliation, and emotional distress.”
Hours later, the jury determined Cosby, 88, owed Motsinger $40 million in punitive damages, bringing the total to $59.25 million, according to the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times.
Jurors found that Cosby acted with “malice, oppression, or fraud,” Rolling Stone reported.
“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.”
Cosby’s attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, said she planned to appeal the verdict and the amount of the monetary award, The New York Times reported.
Bonjean had argued that Cosby had run into financial difficulties and was not worth $128 million, as a prosecution witness testified. She added that the defendant, who has denied assaulting Motsinger, was not a threat, according to the newspaper.
[ Bill Cosby released from prison after sex assault conviction overturned ]
“This is not about providing deterrence,” she told the jury. “A blind 88-year-old man can’t leave his house.”
Motsinger, 84, first stepped forward as Jane Doe No. 8 in a 2005 lawsuit filed by former Temple University athletics director Andrea Constand against the disgraced comedian, Rolling Stone reported.
Motsinger claimed Cosby befriended her while she was working as a server at The Trident, a popular restaurant in Sausalito, according to the magazine.
In her September 2023 civil lawsuit, Motsinger alleged that Cosby drugged her and raped her after inviting her to one of his comedy shows in California, USA Today reported.
She alleged that Cosby gave her wine that made her feel sick and then gave her two round white pills she believed were aspirin, according to Rolling Stone.
“Next thing she knew, she was going in and out of consciousness,” Motsinger’s lawsuit said.
Cosby claimed the encounter was consensual, KABC reported. The alleged incident occurred on the same night that Cosby recorded what would become his best-selling album, “Inside the Mind of Bill Cosby,“ according to Deadline.
Monday’s decision came nearly five years after Cosby was released from a Pennsylvania prison when the state’s Supreme Court threw out a criminal conviction based on allegations similar to the trial in California, the AP reported.
Cosby was convicted in 2018 of three counts of indecent assault against Constand stemming from a 2004 incident and was sentenced to three-to-10 years in prison.
However, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled in a majority opinion that prosecutors were obligated to stand by former Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor’s decision not to pursue charges related to the incident. The previous decision was made to allow Cosby to testify in a civil suit filed by Constand.
Cosby reached a private civil settlement with Constand in 2006.
A Los Angeles jury in 2022 awarded $500,000 to Judy Huth, USA Today reported. She alleged that Cosby sexually abused her at the Playboy Mansion in 1975, when she was 16.
Cosby withdrew his appeal of that verdict in January 2026, Variety reported.