A Los Angeles judge has denied Bill Cosby’s request for a new trial, upholding a $59.25 million judgment in favor of a woman who accused the comedian of drugging and sexually assaulting her in 1972.

Judge Bradley Phillips issued the ruling on May 29, 2026, finding that the 88-year-old Cosby had not demonstrated “any irregularity” in the proceedings that would warrant overturning the March 2026 verdict. Phillips also rejected Cosby’s claim that the damages were “excessive.”

“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.

Lawsuit Stemmed From 1972 Incident

Donna Motsinger, now 84, brought her civil lawsuit against Cosby in September 2023 under a California statute that permits survivors of historical sexual assault to file claims against their alleged abusers long after the incidents occurred. Her case centered on events from 1972, when she worked as a server at a Sausalito, California, restaurant where Cosby was a frequent patron.

In her complaint, Motsinger described how Cosby collected her from her home to attend one of his Bay Area performances. During the trip to the venue, he provided her with wine and a pill she thought was aspirin. “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 woke up at home wearing only her underwear.

A civil jury found in Motsinger’s favor in March, awarding her $17.5 million in past non-economic damages, $1.75 million in future non-economic damages and $40 million in punitive damages. The jury determined that Cosby acted with “malice, oppression, or fraud.”

Defense Arguments Rejected

In early April 2026, Cosby’s legal team filed a motion seeking a new trial, characterizing the punitive damages—approximately one-third of Cosby’s net worth—as presumptively excessive. His attorneys claimed the awards served no deterrent purpose. “He is an 88 year old man with no sight who lives an isolated life,” his lawyers wrote, asserting that his “last known sexual misconduct occurred 20 years ago.”

The motion also contended the verdict resulted from emotion 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.

But Phillips dismissed these arguments in his order, writing 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

The judgment against Cosby represents another legal blow to an entertainer once celebrated as “America’s Dad.” More than 60 women have come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against him, with a 2015 New York magazine exposé documenting dozens of accounts after one accuser successfully sued him in 2014.

In 2018, Cosby became the first major Hollywood figure convicted following the rise of the #MeToo movement, found guilty of drugging and molesting Andrea Constand, a Temple University employee, at his suburban Philadelphia residence in 2004. He spent almost three years in a state prison outside of Philadelphia on a three- to ten-year sentence before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned his conviction in 2021.

Civil litigation has yielded harsher outcomes. In 2022, a Los Angeles jury awarded Judy Huth $500,000 after she claimed Cosby sexually abused her at the Playboy Mansion in 1975, when she was 16 years old.

Plans to Continue Fighting

Andrew Wyatt, a spokesman for Cosby, indicated the defense team will pursue further appeals, using language similar to statements he has made following other legal setbacks and characterizing the decision as politically driven. The defense has repeatedly asserted Cosby’s innocence and said he continues to maintain it.

For Motsinger, Friday’s ruling moves her closer to collecting the judgment, although appeals could extend the legal battle for years. The denial of a new trial removes a significant procedural obstacle, solidifying the judgment while Cosby’s attorneys plan their next strategy in a case that has examined the scope of legislation intended to provide historical assault survivors access to justice.