A California civil jury has ordered veteran American entertainer Bill Cosby to pay $19.3 million in damages to a woman who accused him of drugging and sexually assaulting her more than five decades ago.
The ruling was delivered on Monday in Santa Monica after a civil hearing involving Donna Motsinger, who said the alleged incident occurred while she was working as a waitress in her younger years. The jury reached its decision after three days of deliberation.
According to court documents, Cosby had visited the restaurant where Motsinger worked and later offered her a ride in his limousine.
During the encounter, he allegedly gave her a glass of wine and what she believed to be aspirin.
The plaintiff stated that she subsequently began losing consciousness and later woke up at her home, wearing only her underwear.
Her legal team argued that she had been drugged and raped during the encounter.
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“She knew she had been drugged and raped by Bill Cosby,” the suit claimed.
Attorneys representing Cosby maintained that he had no recollection of any sexual contact with Motsinger, adding that if any interaction occurred, it was consensual.
The court’s decision awarded $19.3 million in damages, with the possibility of additional punitive damages being considered.
The same courthouse previously handled another case in 2022, where Cosby was ordered to pay $500,000 in damages to Judy Huth after a jury found that he had molested her in 1975 when she was 16.
Cosby, once widely regarded as “America’s Dad” due to his long-running television role in The Cosby Show, has faced numerous allegations from multiple women over the years, accusing him of using sedatives and alcohol to facilitate sexual assaults spanning several decades.
Although he was previously convicted in a separate criminal case in 2018 and served time in prison, his conviction was overturned in 2021 on procedural grounds, leading to his release.
The latest judgment adds to a series of civil rulings tied to longstanding allegations against the entertainer, whose legacy in American popular culture has been overshadowed by repeated legal battles and accusations.