'Desperate Housewives' Retrial Gets Sept. 10 Start Date

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Anne White has denied Disney and ABC's defense motion to dismiss Nicollette Sheridan's wrongful termination claim, and set a negotiated Sept. 10 start date for the former "Desperate Housewives" star's retrial.

White had originally set forth a June 4 start and 12-day limit on the new proceedings following a hung jury being declared March 19 in the first trial, Deadline reports. Instead, after some objections to the June start by the defense, White and both parties settled upon proceedings running no longer than Sept. 10-25. She also denied motions from plaintiff Sheridan for financial sanctions against the defense.

Sheridan brought the original suit based upon a claim that in 2009, writers unceremoniously killed off her Edie Britt character from the series after an ugly altercation with series creator Marc Cherry. The actress alleges that during a Sept. 24, 2008 rehearsal discussion between the two about dialogue, Cherry unceremoniously struck her in the temple, resulting in Sheridan walking off the set. Sheridan then filed a complaint with ABC brass against Cherry which was eventually itself dropped

Not long after, Sheridan claims, writers suddenly started plotting her character's death.

Sheridan's initial claim included not only the charge of wrongful termination, but also an assault claim against Cherry. When it was dropped at White's discretion midway into the three-week first trial, Cherry was dismissed as a defendant. Ultimately, the jury was deadlocked at 8-4 favoring Sheridan, but lacked the final vote needed to reach a three-fourths majority verdict.

The current eighth and final season of "Desperate Housewives" concludes May 15 with a double-size, two-hour finale.