Bill Cosby loses civil sex assault case and ordered to pay $19.25m in damages

Cosby, now 88, escorted Donna Motsinger to one of his comedy shows from a restaurant where she worked in Sausalito, California, in 1972.

Ms Motsinger's lawsuit was brought to the Los Angeles Superior Court, where she described how Cosby had attacked her after giving her wine and a pill that had left her incapacitated.

Cosby did not testify at the trial, and the jury sided with her account following three days of deliberations, which concluded on Monday.

She has been awarded $19.25 (£14.3 million) in damages.

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Ms. Motsinger alleged that while working as a restaurant server, she was drugged and raped by Cosby after he gave her a glass of wine in his limousine.

The court papers alleged that after collecting, Cosby gave her a glass of wine on the way to one of his shows.

While at the venue she began to feel sick and he gave her what she believed was aspirin. She then remembered being put in a limo by two men with Mr. Cosby, but later woke up in bed, where she claimed she had been raped.

The lawyers wrote in the papers: "She 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."

Cosby was once seen as one of the most successful comedians in the US but disappeared from public view in the past decade amid widespread allegations of sexual misconduct.

In addition to the dozens of women who have accused Cosby of drugging and sexual assault, he has faced a series of civil trials.

Mr Cosby denied the allegations and has maintained that any sexual contact he had was consensual.

A criminal conviction against Cosby for sexual assault was overturned in 2021.

Speaking after the ruling, Ms Motsinger said: "It has been 54 years to get justice, and I know it’s not complete for the rest of the women, but I hope it helps them a little bit," adding the damages were the "icing on the cake."

While acknowledging it was not a criminal trial, she added it was important to her "that I'm believed and he in some way has to be accountable for what he did to me."

In the court paperwork, Cosby's lawyer had challenged the accuracy of Ms Motsinger’s recollection and said they were "based on nothing more than speculation and conjecture, leaving no triable issues of material fact."