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In the case that established the right of a free press in America, observers noted
that it took a Philadelphia lawyer to acquit John Peter Zenger, the New York
printer sued for criminal libel in 1735. The term was first recorded in a London
publication in 1788, which alluded to a proverbial saying: "It would puzzle a
Philadelphia lawyer." Folklore has it that there was a New England adage that
went, "Any three Philadelphia lawyers are a match for the devil." The term, it
seems, is not without its dark side."

I thought that only a jury could acquit a defentadant accused of a crime.