A California jury has found Bill Cosby liable for s£xual assault in a civil trial, awarding Donna Motsinger a total of $59.25m in damages.
The verdict, delivered on Monday after three days of deliberations, relates to an alleged assault in 1972.
Motsinger told the court that Cosby drugged and r@ped her after offering her a glass of wine while she was working as a restaurant server in Sausalito, California.
Jurors initially awarded $19.25m in compensatory damages and in a second phase of the trial to assess punitive damages, they added a further $40m, bringing the total award to $59.25m.
Motsinger, now 84, brought the case in 2023 after California amended its laws to temporarily lift the statute of limitations for historic s£xual assault claims.
Speaking after the verdict, she described the outcome as the culmination of a five-decade struggle for justice.
Cosby, once among the most successful figures in American comedy and television, has largely withdrawn from public life following decades of allegations by multiple women.
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He has consistently denied claims of s£xual assault, maintaining that all encounters were consensual.
In earlier proceedings, Los Angeles County jurors ruled in 2022 that Cosby s£xually assaulted a 16-year-old girl at the Playboy Mansion in 1975.
Cosby was also convicted in a separate criminal case in 2018 and sentenced to prison, but that conviction was overturned in 2021 after an appellate court found prosecutors had violated his rights.
During the latest civil trial, Cosby did not testify as his legal team said he intends to appeal Monday’s verdict.
Court filings from Motsinger detailed how Cosby allegedly groomed her by repeatedly visiting the restaurant where she worked and later inviting her to attend one of his shows in San Carlos.
The complaint alleged that during the journey, she was given wine and later became disoriented and lost consciousness before waking at home and realising she had been assaulted.
“Defendant Cosby used his enormous wealth, power, fame, and prestige,” the complaint stated, alleging that his celebrity status was used to gain trust and access to women.