{"id":541687,"date":"2026-03-24T04:50:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T04:50:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/541687\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T04:50:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T04:50:07","slug":"bill-cosby-found-liable-for-1972-drugging-jury-awards-59m-to-victim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/541687\/","title":{"rendered":"Bill Cosby Found Liable For 1972 Drugging & Rape; Jury Awards $59M To Victim"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tUPDATE: A California jury has ordered Bill Cosby<\/a> has to pay a total $59.25 million to a woman he drugged and raped in 1972.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe massive amount was reached following an afternoon session Monday by the jury in the civil case on establishing punitive damages for plaintiff Donna Motsinger. After a couple of hours of deliberation, the jurors decided on $40 million in punitive damages for the former Bay Area waitress. <\/p>\n

\n\tThat\u2019s in addition to the $19.25 million Motsinger was awarded earlier today. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis verdict is not just about me \u2013 it\u2019s about finally being heard and holding Mr. Cosby accountable,\u201d Motsinger said on Monday evening after the final figure was determined. \u201cI have carried the weight of what happened to me for more than 50 years. It never goes away. Today, a jury saw the truth and held him accountable. That means everything. I hope this gives strength to other survivors who are still waiting for their moment to be heard.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWith an appeal by Cosby already announced, it is doubtful Motsinger, who sued the much accused and two-time convicted ex-\u2018America\u2019s Dad\u201d in 2023, will see much of the award anytime soon. Plus, Bill Cosby is said to be nearly broke, so he might not have any cash on hand even if an appeal fails. <\/p>\n

\n\tPREVIOUSLY, 12:56 PM: With a verdict of $19.25 million in damages, a Santa Monica jury has found Bill Cosby liable for drugging and raping Donna Motsinger<\/a>\u00a054 years ago.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhether the financially strapped comedian will be able to pay any of the judgment is doubtful, but his latest lawyer Jennifer Bonjean\u00a0says an appeal already is being planned. Just like in previous sexual assault trials, both criminal and civil, Cosby, now 88, did not testify in his own defense.<\/p>\n

\n\tFound liable by the jury for claims of the sexual assault of an intoxicated woman and sexual battery after just three days of deliberation, Cosby has been ordered to pay Motsinger $17.5 million for her past mental trauma. He had to pay another $1.75 million for mental suffering the former Bay Area waitress, now 84 \u2014 who was allowed to sue Cosby under changes in recent years in California\u2019s statute of limitations for sex crimes \u2014 may experience in the future.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a deposition video played at the two-week trial, Cosby is asked if he had sex with Motsinger. He replied, \u201cI cannot remember if I did or not.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tStill undetermined are further punitive damages based on, as the jury noted, \u201cmalice, oppression, or fraud\u201d by Cosby all those years ago. That part of the case is set to start in the next hour at the Santa Monica Courthouse. <\/p>\n

\n\tAs he always has in all his trials and accusations, Cosby said he never had nonconsensual sex. Also, like previous cases, Cosby, through his lawyers, insists he is being targeted and tainted because of his cultural status.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe much-accused Cosby, who reportedly had been selling off multimillion-dollar properties in recent years to meet his bills, was sued by Motsinger in 2023. <\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tMotsinger\u2019s 11-page complaint detailed meeting Cosby at her job, being invited to his local comedy show at the Circle Star Theatre in San Carlos, CA, feeling sick backstage and then \u201cMr. Cosby gave her what she believed was an aspirin.\u201d In a horrific scene that has emerged again and again from the plethora of women who have alleged Cosby raped or attacked them over the decades, the filing in L.A. Superior Court stated: \u201cThe last thing Ms. Motsinger recalls were flashes of light. She woke up in her house with all her clothes off, except her underwear on \u2013 no top, no bra, and no pants.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe drugging and rape<\/a> occurred the same night Cosby recorded what would become his best-selling album Inside the Mind of Bill Cosby.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe once-revered Cosby has been hit in with dozens and dozens of rape, sexual battery or misconduct allegations since a stand-up routine by Hannibal Buress<\/a> went viral in 2014. In 2018, Cosby was\u00a0convicted of the 2004 rape<\/a>\u00a0of former Temple University athletics administrator Andrea Constand<\/a>. That conviction came several months after\u00a0a mistrial was declared<\/a>\u00a0in the first trial of the case in 2017.<\/p>\n

\n\tCosby was sentenced in the Constand case in September 2018 to\u00a0three to 10 years in prison<\/a>, but the Pennsylvania Supreme Court\u00a0overturned his conviction<\/a>\u00a0on procedural grounds in June 2021. The comic was released from prison soon afterward<\/a>. Since then, with the rare public appearance, Cosby has faced more claims and more court cases, including from Constand herself.<\/p>\n

\n\tConstand testified in the Motsinger trial, along with several other women who have claimed assaults by Cosby.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn fact, in the very courthouse where he was found guilty Monday in the Motsinger case, Cosby was found guilty in June 2022 <\/a>of sexually assaulting\u00a0Judy Huth<\/a> at the Playboy Mansion in 1975 when the plaintiff was 16 years old.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn that case, in which the man once called \u201cAmerica\u2019s Dad\u201d was sued for sexual battery and more by Huth back in 2014, the 12-person jury awarded the plaintiff $500,000 in damages.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UPDATE: A California jury has ordered Bill Cosby has to pay a total $59.25 million to a woman…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":541688,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[242347,23365,88,242348,18181],"class_list":["post-541687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-andrea-constand","tag-bill-cosby","tag-entertainment","tag-hannibal-buress","tag-rape"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=541687"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541687\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/541688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=541687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=541687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=541687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}