A California jury has ordered Bill Cosby to pay nearly $19.25 million in damages after finding him liable in a civil sexual assault lawsuit tied to allegations dating back more than five decades.
The verdict, delivered in Santa Monica Superior Court, marks a significant legal outcome in a case that centered on claims brought by Donna Motsinger, now 84. Jurors reached their decision following three days of deliberations, concluding that Cosby was responsible for drugging and assaulting her in 1972.
According to court filings, Motsinger had worked as a waitress at The Trident restaurant in Sausalito, where Cosby was a regular patron during that period. One evening, after she finished her shift, she alleged that Cosby followed her home to Mill Valley and later invited her to attend his stand-up performance, “Inside the Mind of Bill Cosby,” in San Carlos.
A limousine was arranged to take her to the show. During the ride, Motsinger said she accepted a glass of wine offered by Cosby, after which she began feeling unwell.
“She began to feel sick and Mr. Cosby gave her what she believed was an aspirin,” the lawsuit, filed in 2023, stated.
What followed, according to her testimony, was a loss of memory until she awoke hours later in her home under alarming circumstances.
“The last thing Ms. Motsinger recalls were flashes of light. She woke up in her house. with all her clothes off, except her underwear on – no top, no bra, and no pants. She knew she had been drugged and raped by Bill Cosby,” the lawsuit stated.
Cosby, now 88, denied the allegations through his legal team, maintaining that he had no recollection of the encounter. His defense also argued that any interaction between the two, if it occurred, would have been consensual.
The trial included testimony from two additional accusers — Victoria Valentino and Janice Baker Kinney — who described similar alleged patterns of being drugged and assaulted, reinforcing the plaintiff’s claims.
Jurors further determined that Cosby’s actions involved “malice, oppression, or fraud,” a finding that opens the door for potential punitive damages in a separate phase of the proceedings.
Speaking after the verdict, Motsinger reflected on the decades-long pursuit of justice.
“It has been 54 years to get justice, and I know it’s not complete for the rest of the women, but I hope it helps them a little bit,” she said.
She added that the financial award was “icing on the cake.”
The ruling adds to the ongoing legal and reputational fallout surrounding Cosby, whose past cases and allegations have remained a focal point in broader conversations about accountability, civil litigation, and survivor rights within the U.S. legal system.
