US actor Bill Cosby was convicted of sexual assault in a Pennsylvania criminal court in 2018 [AFP]
A United States jury has found stand-up comedian and television superstar Bill Cosby liable for drugging and sexually assaulting a woman in 1972, awarding her $59.25 million.
After a nearly two-week trial in Santa Monica, California, jurors on Monday found the 88-year-old liable for the sexual battery and assault of Donna Motsinger, who was a server at a restaurant in Sausalito near San Francisco at the time of the incident.
In her lawsuit, filed in 2023, Motsinger said 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.
The lawsuit states she woke up in her house with all her clothes off and believed she had been drugged and raped by Cosby.
In court filings, Cosby’s lawyers argued that the allegations rested almost entirely on speculation and assumption, saying Motsinger “freely admits that she has no idea what happened.”
Cosby did not testify at the trial. Witnesses included Andrea Constand, the Temple University sports administrator he was convicted of sexually assaulting in a Pennsylvania criminal court in 2018.
The state’s Supreme Court later threw out the verdict, and Cosby was freed from prison after serving nearly three years of a three- to 10-year sentence.
The once-beloved actor, known as “America’s Dad” for his role on The Cosby Show, was among the first celebrities convicted following the rise of the #MeToo movement in October 2017.
Motsinger’s lawsuit echoed allegations of rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment made by at least 60 women against Cosby, all of which he has denied.
The jury awarded Motsinger $17.5 million in past damages and $1.75 million in future damages, including for mental suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, inconvenience, grief, anxiety, humiliation, and emotional distress.
Source: Aljazeera
