A jury in California has ordered Bill Cosby to pay $19.25 million (£14.3 million) in damages to a former waitress after concluding he drugged and sexually assaulted her in 1972.
Donna Motsinger told the court the comedian gave her wine and a pill that left her incapacitated after picking her up from her home in a limousine and taking her to one of his shows.
Cosby, now 88, denied the allegation, consistent with his response to numerous civil and criminal claims brought by dozens of women over several decades.
He was released from prison in Pennsylvania in 2021 after serving nearly three years of a sentence for sexual assault when his conviction was overturned on a technicality.
His lawyer, Jennifer Bonjean, told US media that Cosby would appeal the verdict delivered on Monday. Jurors in the Santa Monica case may still decide to impose additional punitive damages.
Motsinger, now 84, worked at the Trident restaurant in Sausalito, near San Francisco, which attracted high profile celebrity patrons including Cosby.
According to court filings, she alleged the entertainer invited her to attend a stand up performance and gave her a pill she believed to be aspirin while driving her to the venue.
“Next thing she knew, she was going in and out of consciousness,” her legal action said. “The last thing Ms Motsinger recalls were flashes of light.”
The lawsuit stated she later woke up at home wearing only her underwear and “she knew she had been drugged and raped by Bill Cosby”.
Cosby’s legal team rejected the claim, arguing in court submissions that Motsinger “freely admits that she has no idea what happened”.
The comedian rose to global prominence in the 1980s and 1990s through his sitcom The Cosby Show. His career was later overshadowed by allegations of rape, sexual harassment and sexual misconduct dating back to the 1960s. He has consistently maintained that all encounters were consensual.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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