Bill Cosby Found Liable in 1972 Sexual Assault Case, Jury Awards Nearly $60 Million

Bill Cosby was found liable Monday for drugging and sexually assaulting former waitress Donna Motsinger in 1972, with a jury awarding her a total of $59.25 million in damages, as reported by Fox News.

The verdict includes $17.5 million for past mental trauma, $1.75 million for future mental suffering, and $40 million in punitive damages.

Cosby, now 88, was accused of assaulting Motsinger more than five decades ago while she worked as a server at The Trident restaurant in Sausalito, California.

$59M Awarded To Donna Motsinger From Bill Cosby Rape In 1972; Nearly Broke Ex-“America’s Dad” To Appeal https://t.co/44eXP7FQkU

— Michael T Ford III (@MTFIII) March 24, 2026

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According to court documents, Motsinger alleged that Cosby, a regular at the restaurant, “followed her” home and later invited her to attend one of his shows at the Circle Star Theater in San Carlos, California.

He picked her up in a limousine and gave her a “glass of wine in the limo along the way,” the complaint stated.

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The lawsuit claims Cosby was filming his stand-up act for “Inside the Mind of Bill Cosby” at the time. Motsinger said that once inside the dressing room, she began to feel ill, and Cosby gave her what she believed was an aspirin.

“Next thing she knew, she was going in and out of consciousness while two men attending to Mr. Cosby were putting her in the limousine with Mr. Cosby,” the complaint stated.

“In the limousine, Mr. Cosby sat near the window and put his arms around her. The last thing Ms. Motsinger recalls were flashes of light.”

Motsinger alleged that she later “woke up in her house with all her clothes off, except her underwear on – no top, no bra, and no pants. She knew she had been drugged and raped by Bill Cosby.”

Her complaint stated that she “suffered economic and non-economic damages to the maximum extent allowed by law, including but not limited to the lost wages, medical bills, pain and suffering, emotional distress, and any other remedy available at law.”

Motsinger also brought claims against Cosby’s production company, Jemmin, Inc., and the Circle Star Theater. Court documents stated, “Jemmin, Inc. is vicariously liable for Mr. Cosby’s sexual battery as Jemmin, Inc. authorized and ratified the sexual battery through Mr. Cosby himself.”

The filing further alleged, “Jemmin, Inc. is guilty of fraud, oppression, and malice for the sexual battery of Ms. Motsinger at the hands of Cosby.”

The Circle Star Theater, which is no longer in business, was also accused of failing to intervene.

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