an attempt to introduce evidence during a hearing on a demurrer. A demurrer is a
legal opposition to a complaint in a lawsuit (or to an answer), which says, in effect,
that even if the factual claims (allegations) are true, there are legal flaws or
failures in the lawsuit. Therefore, since the factual allegations are admitted for
the sake of argument, introducing evidence is improper, and an attorney making a
"speaking demurrer" will be halted, often in mid-argument. Example Attorney Perry
Pickwick files a demurrer to a complaint for damages due to medical malpractice,
in which he argues that the suit was filed too late (after the time allowed by the
statute of limitations) since the complaint itself stated the malpractice took place
more than three years before the filing and the limitation by law is two years.
However, the complaint also stated that the plaintiff Elsa Edwards did not discover
the resulting problems until much later, and therefore, she had extra time. Faced
with this counterargument, Pickwick attempts a "speaking demurrer" by arguing, "we
have a letter in which plaintiff Edwards complained about pain right after the operation.
"
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