CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- Most students learn in a classroom at a desk and from books.

Recently, some University of Charleston students took their lessons into the courtroom, doing homework that truly became life changing.

A new forensic accounting program at the University of Charleston helped prove one man's innocence.

The words "Not Guilty" helped change Corporal Keith Peoples life forever. He was cleared of accusations that he double dipped as a Charleston Police Officer and Security Guard for the Charleston Town Center Mall.

"I'm overwhelmed," Peoples said when the verdict came down. "I'm so grateful to my defense team. They put in hundreds and hundreds of hours. I've never seen a team like this. I thank God for them. They worked and worked for me."

Part of that team was made up of students from the University of Charleston who were studying forensic accounting. It's a science built on numbers, first used in the trials of notorious gangster Al Capone and now more commonly used by IRS agents.

"The unique combination of investigative and accounting skills that are applied in a legal way," Dr. Robert Rufus, the professor of the class, said.

The class took on the Charleston police officer's case as a project.

"You have to look beyond the numbers and go out and investigate where you got the numbers," student Meghan Shears said.

The forensic accounting students waded through loads of paperwork in the Peoples' case and found the numbers didn't add up.

"The state case is all based on numbers a spreadsheet where two spreadsheets were analyzed that give an indication that there might be overlap but when you look beyond the numbers you gather additional evidence and find out that thats simply not true," Rufus said.

The students are working toward an executive masters degree in forensic accounting.

The program is in its first year at UC and is one of only two similar programs in the entire country.