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Bill Cosby trial underway in Santa Monica
Jury selection was expected to continue Tuesday. A lawsuit accuses Bill Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman in 1972.
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SANTA MONICA – Jury selection is expected to continue Tuesday in Bill Cosby's civil trial in Santa Monica.
What we know:
A lawsuit accuses the 88-year-old of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman after he invited her to one of his shows.
Donna Motsinger contends in her sexual battery lawsuit that the actor/comedian came into the Trident restaurant every day during a stretch of 1972. Motsinger had served Cosby at his table and one day when she was headed to her Mill Valley home he followed her, pulled up next to the plaintiff and asked her if she would like to attend a show he was performing in San Carlos, according to the complaint.
Motsinger agreed and Cosby said he would pick her up later, the suit states. A limousine driver subsequently took Motsinger to the theater and on the way there Cosby gave her a glass of wine, the suit states.
"She began to feel sick and Mr. Cosby gave her what she believed was an aspirin," the suit states, while adding that the next thing Motsinger knew she was going in and out of consciousness.
The last thing Motsinger remembers were flashes of light and waking up at home wearing only her underwear, the suit filed in September 2023 states.
"She knew she had been drugged and raped by Bill Cosby," the suit states.
The other side:
Cosby's attorneys say he does not remember any sexual contact with Motsinger and that if any occurred, it was consensual. The same lawyers also say Cosby denies giving Motsinger drugs without her permission.
Dig deeper:
In 2022, Cosby was found liable in a similar case.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Bill Cosby found liable in 1975 sexual assault of teen at Playboy Mansion
The Source: City News Service contributed to this report.