Key Takeaways
- Donna Motsinger wants a judge to hold Bill Cosby in contempt, claiming he has paid "not a single penny" of her $59.25 million sexual assault judgment and ignored orders to disclose his finances.
- She seeks fines, five days in jail per alleged violation and an arrest warrant if Cosby fails to appear in court, with a hearing set for January 2027.
- A jury found Cosby liable in March for drugging and sexually assaulting Motsinger in 1972; Cosby denied the allegations, and a judge rejected his request for a new trial in May.
A Bill Cosby accuser has asked a judge to hold the comedian in contempt, months after a jury granted a $59.25 million civil sexual assault judgment against him.
Donna Motsinger claims Cosby has not paid "a single penny" of that judgment, per court documents obtained by TMZ.
She also says Cosby has disregarded orders to disclose information about his bank accounts, income and assets and has shown a refusal to cooperate since the verdict came down.
On October 9, a judge gave Cosby 10 days to turn over his finances and cover $1,560 in sanctions, which Motsinger claims the comedian and actor did not fulfill. The accuser's filing requests the court to bring Cosby in to answer for allegedly resisting the order and to issue a warrant for his arrest if he fails to show up.
In addition to $1,000 per alleged violation, Motsinger wants Cosby to serve five days behind bars for each one, plus cough up $3,284 to cover her lawyers' fees and costs. If Cosby is found in contempt and still won't comply, the accuser wants him kept in jail.
In March, a jury found Cosby liable for drugging Motsinger and sexually assaulting her in 1972, when she waited tables at the Trident in Sausalito. Cosby frequented the spot while he was cutting a stand-up record at a theater nearby.
Jurors first awarded $19.25 million in compensatory damages, then added $40 million in punitive damages in March, three years after Motsinger accused Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting her in 1972. The lawsuit was filed after California temporarily lifted the statute of limitations on certain sexual assault claims.
Cosby denied the allegations with his lawyers calling Motsinger's rape claim "speculative," arguing she had no memory of what happened.
In May, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Bradley S. Phillips denied Cosby's bid for a new trial, ruling he had not shown "any irregularity" that kept the proceedings from being unbiased.
The entertainer spent three years in prison after a 2018 sex assault conviction in Pennsylvania. The state's Supreme Court overturned that conviction in 2021 due to prosecution errors.
A hearing on Motsinger's contempt request is set for January 2027.
