After a nearly two-week trial in Santa Monica, jurors found Cosby, 88, liable for the sexual battery and assault of Donna Motsinger. They awarded her $17.5 million US in past damages and $1.75 million US for future damages, including "mental suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, inconvenience, grief, anxiety, humiliation, and emotional distress."
Then in a second phase of the trial Monday afternoon, they awarded an additional $40 million US in punitive damages.
Cosby's attorney Jennifer Bonjean said in an email that they are disappointed and fully intend to appeal the verdict.
"This verdict is not just about me — it's about finally being heard and holding Mr. Cosby accountable," Motsinger said in a statement.
"I have carried the weight of what happened to me for more than 50 years. It never goes away," she said. "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."
The decision came nearly five years after Cosby was freed from prison in Pennsylvania when the state Supreme Court threw out a criminal conviction based on similar allegations.
Motsinger had been a server at a restaurant in Sausalito, near San Francisco, and said in her lawsuit, filed in 2023, that Cosby had invited her to his stand-up comedy show at a theatre in nearby San Carlos. Both were in their 30s at the time. She said Cosby gave her wine and two pills that she believed were aspirin, and that she was going in and out of consciousness as two men put her in a limousine.
Source: www.cbc.ca
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