While no local federal judges or prosecutors will be allowed to participate, the trial of a woman accused of violating her son’s protective order will remain in Fresno.

The location of Shana Gaviola’s trial for an interstate violation of her son’s protective order had remained in limbo. Gaviola accused a prosecutor of “hitting” on her during a chance encounter at a Fresno bar in 2023.

Gaviola’s attorney filed a motion to dismiss. Fresno-based Judge Jennifer L. Thurston denied the motion, but chastised the attorney, Michael Tierney, for his alleged behavior. She also agreed to move the venue to the San Francisco-based federal court.

However, the chief judge for the Eastern District of California — a judicial district spanning the eastern half of the state from the Oregon border through Kern County — went a step further, disqualifying all judges and prosecutors from the district in the name of fairness and vacating the change of venue.

Chief Judge Troy L. Nunley appointed Chief Judge Mary H. Murguia of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, to decide where the case should be heard.

In a ruling filed Tuesday, Murguia appointed U.S. District Judge John Coughenour — a Reagan-era appointee — to hear the case in the Fresno federal court. No date for the trial or motion hearings has been set.

Gaviola’s Attorney Reacts

Coughenour, based in Seattle, is known as a traveling judge. He handled the sentencing in the Bitwise criminal case in 2024 while in Fresno.

“I look forward to appearing before the new judge,” Gaviola’s attorney George Pallas said.

Pallas, who took over the case in July, said he is challenging Nunley’s order, calling it improper. U.S.  Attorney Eric Grant filed a rebuttal, supporting Nunley’s ruling.

“It is unfortunate that the Fresno U.S. Attorney’s Office has chosen to double down on the AUSA’s abusive and harassing behavior. They are literally ignoring the concerns about this behavior as spelled out by Judge Thurston’s order that has caused a district-wide recusal of all judges,” Pallas said.

Gaviola’s Alleged Crime

Prosecutors allege that Gaviola and Julio Sandoval, dean of the Agape Boarding School in Stockton, Missouri, conspired to take Gaviola’s son, Blake McGee, against his will to the school.

At the time of the alleged crime in 2021, McGee — then a minor — had a protective order against his mother. He also filed a petition requesting emancipation.

The case was scheduled to begin in Fresno in 2024, but was  delayed several times.

Tierney was also under consideration to be appointed a U.S. magistrate judge. A magistrate judge has many of the same powers as a U.S. Senate-confirmed federal judge.

His status as a magistrate nominee is unclear. The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment.