Battery Claim Stricken From Nicolette Sheridan's 'Desperate Housewives' Lawsuit

It's not a complete resolution, but a Tuesday ruling may make Nicollette Sheridan's wrongful termination lawsuit's resolution simpler to come by.

Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Allen White instructed after testimony ended that jurors would not consider Sheridan's battery claim against "Desperate Housewives" creator Marc Cherry, reports the Associated Press. The case is now left to a question of whether Sheridan was fired over an on-set dispute with Cherry, or if - as her attorneys claim - highers-ups had decided a while before that Sheridan would be let go and the dispute was used as a justification.

The ruling pleased defense attorney Adam Levin, and Sheridan's attorney Mark Baute felt satisfied that striking the claim would simplify the juries deliberations following nine days of hearing evidence.The civil trial's evidenciary phase concluded Tuesday with set construction coordinater Michael Reinhart taking the stand against ABC and Cherry's attorney's objections. Defense attorneys argued that Reinhart, who was describing an email received after Sheridan's 2010 lawsuit filing that he alleged instructed destroying files regarding Sheridan's termination, had probably misinterpreted the message.

Reinhart admitted he believed he had been sent the message mistakenly and immediately deleted, but started "losing sleep" over reading the words "delete," "hard drive" and "Nicollette Sheridan." Two ABC attorneys testified that they'd in fact made every effort to preserve documents addressing the actress' 2008 firing. Sheridan previously claimed that Cherry struck her left temple hard during a September 2008 argument, whereas Cherry claims he was merely tapping her on the head to give her artistic direction.

White denied Levin's request to delay the case for a forensic examination of Reinhart's hard drive.

Levin also accused Baute of promising Reinhart job-hunting assistance if the eight-season crew member lost his job over his testimony. After Reinhart removed his work computer from his office, White ordered that he turn it over to ABC attorneys to be examined.