California jury has ordered veteran comedian bill cosby More than $19 million was paid to a woman who said he drugged and raped her more than five years ago in a civil trial that ended Monday in Santa Monica.The jury’s verdict found Cosby responsible for sexual assault and battery in the case brought by Donna Mossinger. Mossinger said the incident occurred in 1972 while she was working as a waitress in Sausalito, California. The award includes approximately $17.5 million for past emotional anguish and $1.75 million for future emotional anguish. The jury also found that Cosby acted with “malice, oppression or fraud,” which could result in further punitive damages at a later stage.Mossinger, now in her 80s, told the court she met Cosby when he was a customer at the restaurant where she worked. According to her complaint, Cosby later invited her to a show and gave her a drink on the way there. She said she began to feel ill and was given aspirin, leaving her unconscious and vulnerable. She said the next thing she remembered was waking up at home with half of her clothes off. But Cosby’s attorneys dispute the accusations. They said he did not recall any sexual contact with Mossinger and that if any contact occurred, it was consensual. They also deny he gave Motzinger drugs without her permission.The civil trial, which began decades after the alleged incident, was made possible by changes in California law that extended the period during which victims could bring sexual assault cases to court. The verdict is part of a series of legal challenges and lawsuits Cosby has faced over the years related to sexual misconduct allegations.Cosby, 88, was once one of America’s most successful comedians and became a household name for his long-running television show. But his reputation has been severely damaged by numerous sexual assault accusations over the decades. In 2018, he was convicted of gross indecency in Pennsylvania and sentenced to prison, but the state’s Supreme Court overturned the conviction due to prosecutorial misconduct, and he was released in 2021.In addition to the Moesinger case, Cosby faces other civil verdicts. In 2022, another jury in California awarded $500,000 to another plaintiff in a case involving allegations from the 1970s.After hours of deliberations, a Santa Monica jury returned the verdict Monday and returned the $19.25 million award. While the current figure includes damages for Moessinger’s pain and suffering, further punitive damages may be determined in the next phase of the trial after a jury finds Cosby acted with malice.For Mossinger, who has been pursuing justice for more than 50 years, the decision marks an important moment in a long legal road. The award could provide her with financial compensation for her pain and suffering, although it would not erase the decades that have passed since the events she describes.Cosby’s legal team has said it plans to appeal the verdict, meaning the case will likely continue in court for some time before the final outcome is known.
