A California civil jury has found Bill Cosby liable for drugging and sexually assaulting Donna Motsinger in 1972 and awarded her $59.25 million, one of the largest civil payouts tied to the comedian’s long-running abuse allegations. The verdict came after a nearly two-week trial in Santa Monica and split the damages between compensation and punishment.
Jurors awarded Motsinger $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. In a second phase of the trial, they added $40 million in punitive damages. Cosby, who is 88, was found liable on the civil claims but was not in court to testify.
Motsinger said in a statement that the verdict was about being heard and holding Cosby accountable after more than 50 years. She told the court she had been a restaurant server in Sausalito when Cosby invited her to a show in nearby San Carlos, gave her wine and two pills she thought were aspirin, and then left her in and out of consciousness before she woke up partially undressed. Her lawsuit said she knew she had been drugged and raped.
Cosby’s lawyer, Jennifer Bonjean, said the defense intended to appeal. Cosby’s team argued that Motsinger’s account rested largely on speculation and that she could not know exactly what happened. The civil case moved unusually quickly compared with many of the other lawsuits that have followed Cosby for years.
The verdict also lands years after Cosby was freed from prison in Pennsylvania, where the state Supreme Court overturned his criminal conviction on due-process grounds. That earlier ruling did not erase the broader pattern of accusations against him. Motsinger’s case echoed allegations made by many other women, and the AP noted that Cosby has denied the claims against him.
For survivors, the size of the award is significant not just because of the money, but because it arrives in a case that had to survive decades of silence and litigation. Motsinger said she hoped the verdict would give other survivors strength. Whatever happens on appeal, the civil jury has now placed a dollar value on conduct that jurors concluded caused lasting harm.
The award also reflects how civil courts have become a separate arena for accountability when criminal cases are no longer available or have already been overturned. For Motsinger, the verdict is both compensation and public recognition. For Cosby, it is another large civil judgment that will likely shape any future settlement strategy.
