Los Angeles (CNN) -- A jury began deliberating Wednesday afternoon in actress Nicollette Sheridan's wrongful termination lawsuit against "Desperate Housewives" creator Marc Cherry. 

The jury of nine women and three men is to decide whether Cherry killed off a Sheridan's character in retaliation for the actress complaining that he hit her during a rehearsal for the ABC comedy. A verdict requires the agreement of nine jurors. 

Sheridan is asking for $5.7 million in damages from ABC and Cherry, although the actress was paid $4 million in her last year of work and is still earning royalties from her vested interest in the hit series. 

Sheridan lawyer Mark Baute, in his closing Wednesday morning, told jurors they have two questions to answer: Did Cherry hit Sheridan on the head on September 24, 2008, or was it a "light tap," as the defense claims? And, did Cherry get ABC's approval to kill Sheridan's character in May 2008, as the defense claims, or was the decision made in December, after a human resources investigator cleared him in the slapping incident? 

Baute called Cherry a "really obvious liar" who was covering up the real reason he killed off Edie Britt, the sassy blonde character Sheridan played for the show's first five seasons. 

He accused other ABC employees of conspiring to cover up evidence that it was a revenge firing in order to protect a show that has earned over $1 billion in eight seasons. 

Cherry and ABC claim they decided Britt would die in season five in May 2008, four months before the incident in which Cherry allegedly struck Sheridan. 
How many must be in agreement?
A verdict requires the agreement of nine jurors.