He is not expected to be in the courtroom, but Bill Cosby is front and center at a civil trial in California this week as he faces accusations from one of the many women who have accused him of being a sexual predator.
The suit in Los Angeles Superior Court accuses Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting Donna Motsinger, a former restaurant server, after escorting her to one of his comedy shows in 1972.
In court papers, Motsinger, now 84, says the attack happened after Cosby had given her wine and a pill that left her incapacitated. “She knew she had been drugged and raped by Bill Cosby,” her lawyers wrote.
Cosby denies these allegations and others brought by dozens of women who have come forward to accuse the once celebrated entertainer of sexual misconduct. Cosby has said that any sexual contact he had was consensual.
Opening statements in the case began Tuesday. The case is expected to last two weeks.
Years ago, Motsinger’s case would have been time-barred because she did not come forward with the accusation until after the expiration of what had been the statute of limitations for such suits. But California is among the states that have in recent years amended the statutes to allow accusers to come forward even after a lengthy passage of time. More than a dozen of Cosby’s accusers have now filed suits in states including New York and Nevada.
“The changes are essential to justice for survivors of sexual assault,” said Jesse Creed, a lawyer for Motsinger.
Cosby’s only criminal conviction for sexual assault was overturned in 2021 after he had served three years at a prison outside Philadelphia. He had been charged with drugging and assaulting Andrea Constand, a former Temple University employee to whom Cosby had been a mentor. But the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that a “non-prosecution agreement” with a previous prosecutor meant that he should not have been charged in the case.
Constand is one of several women who are scheduled to be called as witnesses by Motsinger’s lawyers.