Nicollette Sheridan's Lawyers Ask For Retrial of Her Lawsuit Against 'Desperate Housewives' Producers

Lawyers for former Desperate Housewives co-star Nicollette Sheridan have fired back at attorneys representing Touchstone Television Productions, who want a judge to enter a judgment in their clients' favor rather than retry the actress' lawsuit.

Defense lawyers filed papers last month with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Allen White asking that she grant Touchstone a directed verdict on the actress' wrongful termination allegation and a dismissal of her claim for punitive damages.

However, in court papers filed Monday, lawyers for Sheridan say she deserves a retrial and that she has a valid claim for punitive damages. Sheridan, 48, claims in her lawsuit filed in April 2010 that her character was killed off the ABC series after she complained that show creator Marc Cherry smacked her on the head. The actress claimed Cherry hit her after a rehearsal when she asked why a line was eliminated from the script.     "The record establishes a conscious disregard for Sheridan and reveals that Cherry and Touchstone sought to penalize her and deprive her of significant income because she had the audacity to complain about being struck by her boss while at work," Sheridan's court papers state.

But defense attorneys say that prior to a mistrial being declared March 19, Sheridan's lawyers did not present evidence proving a connection between the elimination of the actress' Edie Britt character and her complaints that she was struck on the set by Cherry on Sept. 24, 2008. Cherry is no longer a defendant because White threw out a battery claim against him before the case went to the jury.   White declared a mistrial after jurors said they were deadlocked 8-4 in favor of Sheridan. In civil court, nine jurors must agree on a verdict.     "In sum, while Sheridan attempted to muddy the waters at trial, the actual evidence surrounding the decision to kill off Sheridan's character was clear and unequivocal: on May 22 (2008), (former ABC and Touchstone chief) Mark Pedowitz decided to kill off Sheridan's character in season 5 because he felt the character had run its creative course," the Touchstone attorneys' court papers state. "He did not make it in retaliation for Sheridan complaining that Cherry allegedly hit her on Sept. 24."

Cherry denied hitting Sheridan hard, saying he tapped her on the head to give her direction about what he wanted in the scene.

But Sheridan's lawyers say the evidence actually points to Cherry making the choice to eliminate the Britt character only after an internal investigation cleared him of any wrongdoing.

"In short, Cherry decided to kill Edie in December 2008 after he was vindicated by the bogus investigation," Sheridan's court papers state.

The actress' lawyers state that Lois Kirkland, a writer during the show's fifth season, attended the Las Vegas writers retreat in May 2008, when Cherry claims he announced Britt would be killed in a future show. Baker said she recalled no talk during the retreat of any plans to eliminate Britt's character in a future episode, according to Sheridan's court papers.

Another fifth season show writer, Jeffrey Greenstein, also attended the retreat and said he did not hear anything until that summer about the possibility of Britt being written out of the show, Sheridan's court papers state.

Touchstone lawyers say Sheridan was not fired and that allowing a jury to decide the merits of a decision to write a character out of a show infringes on their client's First Amendment rights. However, Sheridan's lawyers say the First Amendment "does not insulate wrongful termination made in retaliation."

A hearing on the Touchstone motion is scheduled April 13.

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