'Desperate Housewives' Case Ends in Mistrial March 19, 2012, 4:20 pm LOS ANGELES - Like so much else in "Desperate Housewives," the motivation behind Edie Britt's death will remain a mystery for at least a little longer. A judge on Monday declared a mistrial in the wrongful termination lawsuit filed by a former "Desperate Housewives" actress, Nicollette Sheridan. Jurors said they were unable to decide why her character had been killed off the show, according to The Los Angeles Times. The jurors told a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge that they were hopelessly deadlocked, with eight supporting Ms. Sheridan's claim that she had been fired in an act of retaliation, while four sided with the show's creator, Marc Cherry, who said he had killed off Ms. Sheridan's character for creative reasons. Nine votes are needed to reach a verdict. Ms. Sheridan had sued Mr. Cherry and Touchstone Television Production for almost $6 million in lost wages. Ms. Sheridan, who was making $175,000 per episode when her character was killed, claimed that she had been fired because she reported an on-set incident in 2008, when Mr. Cherry struck her in the head, to her lawyer, and details of the incident were leaked to The National Enquirer. The two-week trial served up a mix drama and dark comedy worthy of the hit ABC show itself, revealing stories from behind the scenes that the network probably would have preferred to keep quiet. Witnesses told of on-set disputes between leading ladies, and detailed the huge salaries that the actresses made from the show, which has grossed $1 billion in its eight seasons. Most notably, a producer revealed the coming death of a major character in an episode that had not yet aired. A host of producers and writers testified about when and why the decision was made to kill Ms. Sheridan's character. Ms. Sheridan's lawyer labeled Mr. Cherry a liar, while Mr. Cherry's lawyer called Ms. Sheridan desperate. In the end, however, neither side was able to sway enough jurors to win the case.