A civil jury found that Bill Cosby sexually assaulted Judy Huts in 1975

The jury found on Tuesday that Bill Cosby sexually assaulted a 16-year-old girl at the Playboy Mansion in 1975.

The Los Angeles County jury ruled in favor of Judy Hutt, now 64, awarding her $500,000.

The jury found that Cosby had intentionally caused harmful sexual contact with Hutt, who he reasonably believed was under the age of 18, and that his behavior was motivated by an abnormal or unnatural sexual interest in a minor.

The jury’s decision is a major legal defeat for the 84-year-old singer who was once hailed as the father of America. It comes nearly a year after his sexual assault conviction in Pennsylvania was overturned and he was released from prison. Houth’s lawsuit was one of the last remaining legal claims against him after his insurer settled many others against his will.

Cosby did not attend the trial and did not testify in person, but short clips of a 2015 video were shown to the jury in which he denied having sex with Hutt. He continues to deny the allegations through his lawyer and publicist.

Jurors have already reached conclusions on nearly every issue in the form of their verdict, including whether Cosby abused Hutt and whether he deserved compensation after Friday’s two-day hearing. But the jury leader out of personal obligation could not deserve more work and the panel had to start discussion on Monday with the substitute jury.

Cosby’s lawyers agreed that Cosby met Hutt and his friend in the April 1975 film in Southern California, and took them to the Playboy Mansion a few days later.

Hutt’s friend Donna Samuelson, the lead witness, took the photos at the Hutt and Cosby Palace, which looked great at the trial.

Hutt testifies that in the room next to the playroom, where the three of them were together, Cosby tried to get his hand down his pants, then exposed himself and forced him to have sex.

Hutt filed a lawsuit in 2014, saying her son was 15, the age she initially remembered when he went to the palace, and a wave of other women accusing him of acting like Cosby brought new trauma to what he suffered at the time. adolescence. .

Hutton’s attorney, Nathan Goldberg, told a nine-woman, three-man jury during his closing argument on Wednesday that “my client deserves to be held accountable for what Cosby did.”

“Every one of you knows in your heart that Mr. Cosby sexually assaulted Ms. Hutt,” Goldberg said.

Apparently, most jurors agreed and gave Huth the win in the trial, which took eight years and overcame many obstacles just for the trial.

During her testimony, Cosby’s attorney, Jennifer Bonjen, consistently disagreed with Hutt and Samuelson over detailed errors and similarities in their stories, which the attorney says represent coordination between the two women.

This included women who said in preliminary hearings and police interviews that Samuelson was playing Donkey Kong On that day, the game was not released until six years later.

Bonjan did a lot of that, what both sides called “protecting Donkey Kong”.

Goldberg asked the jury to look closely at the small mistakes he said were inevitable in the 45-year-old stories and focus on the main issues behind the allegations. He pointed out to the judges that Samuelson said “games like Donkey KongWhen you first mentioned this in your statement.

Cosby’s attorney began his closing argument by saying, “That’s right. Donkey KongAnd it ended with a “game over” announcement.

Hutt’s attorney reacted angrily to his denial.

“It’s about justice!” he yelled, hitting the podium. “We don’t need to finish the game! We need justice!”

The Associated Press generally does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted if they do not appear in public, as Hutt did.