Bill Cosby has to pay $19.25 million in damages after a California jury found that he drugged and sexually assaulted the plaintiff in his latest sexual assault trial.
According to The New York Times, the judgment will go to Donna Motsinger, whom Cosby raped in 1972. In her complaint, Motsinger said she met Cosby as a waitress; the comedian later invited her to his stand-up act at the now-defunct Circle Star Theater.
She said that after picking her up in a limo, he gave her a glass of wine and what she thought was aspirin, since she was feeling sick. She began losing consciousness; all she remembered was being placed in Cosby’s limo by two men and waking up to realize she had been assaulted.
“She woke up in her house with all her clothes off, except her underwear on—no top, no bra, and no pants,” the complaint reads. “She knew she had been drugged and raped by Bill Cosby.”
Cosby’s lawyer, Jennifer Bonjean, said he would appeal.
Motsinger addressed the jury’s decision outside the Santa Monica courthouse: “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 said that while the verdict didn’t come from a criminal case with a guilty plea, it was still validating that she’s “believed and he in some way has to be accountable for what he did to me.”
It seems that Motsinger’s win will be a drain for Cosby. Last fall, during his deposition in the case, the disgraced actor revealed that he was experiencing a financial decline.
“Due to allegations, whether they be newspaper, radio, television, magazines, or just plain internet, I have not worked in about 10 years, or more,” he said. “That means I have not earned a cent through my being an entertainer, a writer, a television performer, except in reruns, and my net worth has gone down like a submarine with no motor.”
In 2018, Cosby was convicted in a criminal case for sexual assault, which saw him serve three years at a maximum-security prison outside Philadelphia. In 2021, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned his conviction on procedural grounds.
Dozens of women have accused the 88-year-old of sexual assault, starting decades ago but beginning in earnest in 2014. Cosby has categorically denied all allegations.
