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Bill Cosby<\/a> is once again facing trial over an alleged sexual assault. The disgraced comedian, now 88, stands accused<\/a> in a Santa Monica civil court case of raping a woman before a comedy show nearly six decades ago. As with other Cosby accusers, Donna Motsinger alleges that Cosby incapacitated her with some sort of drug to facilitate the attack, according to court documents filed in Los Angeles Superior Court. Cosby has maintained that he did not assault Motsinger.<\/p>\n More broadly, Cosby has insisted that he never sexually assaulted any of the many women who have stepped forward with sexual-misconduct\u00a0 allegations against him. The trial, which is expected to last two weeks, started in earnest on March 10 with opening statements, and three other accusers are poised to testify, the New York Times reported<\/a>. Motsinger\u2019s lawsuit is reportedly among dozens of other civil actions against Cosby now playing out in courts across the U.S. Here is what we know about the new Cosby trial.<\/p>\n Donna Motsinger was a server at the Trident, a highly regarded restaurant in Sausalito, California, when she met Cosby in 1972. She was 31 and had served his table. Cosby was a Trident regular, according to court papers. One week when Motsinger was working, Cosby was particularly extroverted. \u201cHe hung out to talk to Ms. Motsinger,\u201d her lawsuit filed on September 27, 2023, claims. Cosby even asked if he could call her son and used the restaurant payphone to do so. \u201cDefendant Cosby did this to lure and groom Ms. Motsinger for his future assault.\u201d The Times reports<\/a> that Motsinger is now 84. Motsinger also claims that everybody \u201cwas fawning over him due to his international celebrity and acclaim\u201d at the restaurant.<\/p>\n One day, Motsinger was returning to her Mill Valley, California, home when Cosby \u201cfollowed her and pulled up next to her.\u201d Cosby allegedly asked Motsinger if she would go with him to a comedy show at Circle Star Theater in San Carlos, California, and she said yes. Cosby said he would pick her up, and he later arrived at Motsinger\u2019s house in a limo. He allegedly gave her a glass of wine in the car.<\/p>\n When they got to Circle Star Theater, Cosby purportedly brought her to the dressing room. \u201cShe began to feel sick and Mr. Cosby gave her what she believed was an aspirin,\u201d the lawsuit claims. \u201cNext thing she knew, she was going in and out of consciousness while two men attending to Mr. Cosby were putting her in the limousine with Mr. Cosby.\u201d She said that Cosby put his arms around her in the limo. \u201cThe last thing Ms. Motsinger recalls were flashes of light. She woke up in her house with all her clothes off, except her underwear on \u2014 no top, no bra, and no pants. She knew she had been drugged and raped by Bill Cosby.\u201d<\/p>\n California is among several states that recently updated their laws so\u00a0 sexual-assault accusers can take legal action for alleged incidents that took place years ago, the Times noted. Cosby similarly faced several suits in New York under the state\u2019s Adult Survivors Act,<\/a> which provided a one-year look-back window for accusers to file suit over allegations that would otherwise be time-barred. The window for New York closed on Thanksgiving 2023, according to the Associated Press<\/a>.<\/p>\n According to the Times, Jesse Creed, who is representing Motsinger, said, \u201cThe changes are essential to justice for survivors of sexual assault \u2026 the California legislature has rightly recognized that sexual assault survivors take years to process trauma and build the courage to confront their sexual assault perpetrators.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to Motsinger, witnesses are expected to include three other women who have accused Cosby of assault. Among those women is Andrea Constand<\/a> \u2014 whose allegations against Cosby led to his sexual-assault conviction, per the Times.<\/p>\n Constand has claimed <\/a>that Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004. At the time, Constand was the sports director at Temple University, Cosby\u2019s alma mater. At Cosby\u2019s 2018 retrial in Pennsylvania, Constand testified<\/a> that he provided her a pill that he claimed would help her allergies. Constand, who said she thought of Cosby as a mentor and trusted him, took the pill. She started feeling woozy and thought something was wrong. Cosby, then in his late 60s, began touching her, she alleged. Constand\u2019s testimony at Motsinger\u2019s civil trial echoed what she said during his criminal trial, the Times said<\/a>.<\/p>\n Wasn\u2019t Cosby convicted in Constand\u2019s case against him?\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Yes, but in 2021, Pennsylvania\u2019s highest court threw out his felony conviction, deciding that a \u201cnon-prosecution agreement\u201d with a prior prosecutor should have kept him from ever being on trial. The court also took issue with the \u201cprior bad act witnesses\u201d who testified at his second trial. The U.S. Supreme Court declined<\/a> to hear Pennsylvania prosecutors\u2019 appeal in 2022, meaning the top state court\u2019s decision remained in place<\/a>.<\/p>\n Cosby\u2019s attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, has argued in court papers that Motsinger\u2019s description of events was \u201cbased on nothing more than speculation\u201d and time-barred. \u201cShe speculates that Defendant gave her some type of pills that were not actually aspirin. How Defendant anticipated that she would ask for aspirin is anyone\u2019s best guess,\u201d Bonjean said in a court filing reported by the Times. Cosby denies Motsinger\u2019s claims. During a deposition in Motsinger\u2019s case, Cosby reportedly complained about his financial situation.<\/p>\n Cosby is not expected to be in court, according to the New York Times.<\/p>\n Sign up for the Vulture Daily<\/p>\n An entertainment newsletter for the pop-culture obsessed.<\/p>\n Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice<\/p>\n