Court upholds conviction in W.Va. mine explosion

Hughie Elbert Stover claimed there was no evidence he knowingly lied when he told investigators that miners were not alerted whenever inspectors arrived, but a panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., disagreed.

The panel hinted at their ruling during a 20-minute oral argument in September, when they challenged Stover's attorney, William Wilmoth. The judges pointed to witnesses at trial and suggested there was an abundance of circumstantial evidence.