A woman who said she was drugged and sexually assaulted by veteran US entertainer Bill Cosby was awarded more than $19 million on Monday after a civil hearing in California.
Donna Motsinger said she was working as a waitress more than 50 years ago when the performer began to target her.
The hearing in Santa Monica was told how the comedian had initially come into the restaurant where the now-84-year-old Motsinger worked.
One day, when he picked her up in his limousine, Cosby gave her a glass of wine and what she thought was an aspirin.
She began slipping in and out of consciousness, and the next thing she knew, she was waking up at home, wearing only her underwear.
“She knew she had been drugged and raped by Bill Cosby,” the suit said.
Attorneys said Cosby, 88, did not remember any sexual contact with Motsinger but that any that had occurred had been consensual.
The jury took three days to deliver its verdict, ordering Cosby to pay $19.3 million, a figure that could increase if they add punitive damages.
