A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge on May 29, 2026, upheld a $59.25 million sexual assault judgment against Bill Cosby, denying the 88-year-old comedian’s request for a new trial and rejecting his claims that jurors acted out of emotion rather than evidence.
Judge Bradley Phillips found no procedural errors or excessive damages in the March 2026 verdict that sided with accuser Donna Motsinger, who alleged Cosby drugged and raped her more than five decades ago. The ruling eliminates one of Cosby’s remaining legal escape routes in a civil case that has added tens of millions to his mounting liabilities.
“The Court finds that there was sufficient evidence … to support the jury’s finding that defendant’s conduct caused plaintiff’s damages,” Phillips wrote in the ruling issued Friday.
Motsinger, now 84, brought her lawsuit in September 2023 under a California statute that opened a litigation window for victims of historical sexual abuse. Her complaint described an incident in 1972 when she worked as a server at a Sausalito, California, restaurant where Cosby was a frequent patron.
She alleged Cosby collected her from her residence and brought her to one of his Bay Area performances, providing her wine and a pill she thought was aspirin during the trip. “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,” the complaint alleged. She said she regained awareness at home dressed only in her underwear.
The Verdict and the Push for Reversal
A civil jury in March awarded Motsinger $17.5 million in past non-economic damages, $1.75 million in future non-economic damages and $40 million in punitive damages after concluding that Cosby had acted with “malice, oppression, or fraud.” The combined award totaled $59.25 million.
In early April 2026, Cosby’s legal team filed a motion seeking to overturn the verdict, calling the punitive component alone—roughly a third of Cosby’s net worth—”presumptively excessive.” They contended the “gigantic awards” lacked any legitimate deterrent purpose. “He is an 88 year old man with no sight who lives an isolated life,” his lawyers wrote, claiming his “last known sexual misconduct occurred 20 years ago.”
The defense also asserted that jurors were swayed by bias rather than facts. “It is clear that this jury acted out of passion and prejudice, punishing the Defendant to take a stand against all would-be abusers in positions of power and celebrity,” the motion read.
Judge Phillips rejected every argument. He determined that Cosby failed to demonstrate “any irregularity” in the proceedings that would have deprived him of a fair trial and ruled that the damages were not “excessive.”
In his order, Phillips wrote that Cosby “has not shown that there was any irregularity in the proceedings or any order or abuse of discretion by the Court that prevented [Cosby] from having a fair trial; that either the compensatory or punitive damages are excessive; that the evidence was insufficient to justify the verdict or that the verdict is against law; or that there was any error in law.”
Decades of Accusations and Courtroom Battles
The entertainer once celebrated as “America’s Dad” has faced accusations from more than 60 women alleging sexual misconduct. A 2015 New York magazine exposé chronicled dozens of allegations following one accuser who successfully sued him in 2014.
Cosby became the first Hollywood figure convicted during the #MeToo movement in 2018, found guilty of drugging and molesting Temple University employee Andrea Constand at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004. He served almost three years in a state prison outside of Philadelphia on a three- to 10-year sentence before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned his conviction in 2021.
Civil courtrooms have delivered harsher outcomes. In 2022, a Los Angeles jury awarded Judy Huth $500,000 after she alleged Cosby sexually abused her at the Playboy Mansion in 1975, when she was 16 years old.
Appeal Plans and What Comes Next
Cosby spokesman Andrew Wyatt indicated the defense will continue fighting, using language similar to statements following previous defeats and characterizing the ruling as politically driven. The defense has consistently maintained Cosby’s innocence and has said he stands behind it.
For Motsinger, the recent order moves her closer to collecting the judgment, though any appeals could extend the legal battle for years. The denial of a new trial removes a significant procedural obstacle, allowing the judgment to remain in place as Cosby’s attorneys chart their next steps in a case testing the scope of laws granting historical assault victims access to civil courts.
