For the past 20 years, Terence Lewis has been behind bars as the result of the testimony

of a single witness.

A woman named Lena Laws, known to most as star, testified at his trial that three young

men came into the house the night her boyfriend Bernard Howard had been shot and killed.

And she told the jury that the co-defendant in the white shirt had been one of them.

That single line in testimony is the only evidence the jury heard that linked Terence to

the crime.

And while there are a lot of good reasons to allow a single witness to establish factual

matters before court, there's a good reason many prosecutors prefer to avoid a single witness

case situation when they can and make it a multi-witness case instead.

And single witness cases have been a source of unease for legal systems around the world

for as long as the concept of the legal system has existed.

The Bible addresses this subject at length.

For instance, the Bible says at Deuteronomy chapter 19 verse 15,

shall a charge be established.

And in two Corinthians chapter 13 verse 1, every matter must be established by the testimony

of two or three witnesses.

And in Matthew chapter 18 verse 16, Jesus reminds his disciples of the importance of every

matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.

Roman law carried on this tradition, but ultimately the common law system would come to reject

it, and so too does American law today with certain exceptions.

In fact, from one offense, the US Constitution enshrines a bar on single witness cases.

...