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Miller swears in a witness played by Houghton College
sophomore, Samuel Lorrow of Dansville, NY.
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Houghton, N.Y.— On December 17, 2019, Houghton College
Assistant Professor of Business Management and Law, Joseph Miller, conducted
the first-ever mock trial for students in the Criminal Justice and Pre-Law
programs at Houghton College. The mock trial was a part of the final grade for
students in Miller’s Introduction to Criminal Justice/Civil Law and Society
hybrid class and included five cases.
Early in the Fall
semester, Miller divided his class into groups, and handed out the mock trial
scripts. “I placed them together and then it was up to them to decide who in
their group would be a witness and who in their group would be an attorney,”
offered Miller. “They each had about 12 weeks to work on it.” Miller compiled
the fictional cases from several state bar associations including Georgia,
Colorado and New Hampshire.
While Miller presided over each mock trial as judge, he
occasionally switched back into teacher mode to direct the groups when they
struggled. “Working with the students to prepare for the trial was a lot of
fun,” adds Miller. “Of course, I take into consideration that they are
undergraduate students – many of whom probably have no intention of being
lawyers or going to law school.”
Miller, who currently practices law in Cuba at the Law
Office of Joseph P. Miller, began teaching at Houghton College as an adjunct
professor in 2017, and became full-time in January of 2019. His real-life
connections continue to be an asset to Houghton’s new Criminal Justice program,
as he brings in field professionals to speak to his students. “We had an FBI
agent from the Buffalo Field Office come in and talk to my class this
semester,” continues Miller. “But then on the other side of it, we had the CEO
of Saving Grace Ministries, Reverend Terry King, speak to the class. He works
with parolees that are being reintegrated back into society after being
incarcerated.” Houghton alum and Allegany County Assistant District Attorney,
Tom Fuoco, was also a guest in Miller’s class. “He came in to share his
experience as a public defender and a prosecutor.”
Miller sees the Criminal Justice program expanding at
Houghton in large part because of all of the support that has been coming in
from local law enforcement and other agencies. “I think as we are able to offer
more specialized courses, we'll be able to have different people come in and
speak with our students. I truly enjoy teaching at Houghton,” states Miller. “I
love being here.”
