Remote Surveillance Trailer in Fresno, CA

An Assistant U.S. Attorney, who is in line to be a U.S. Magistrate Judge, is being accused of “hitting on” a female defendant in a kidnapping case he was prosecuting and her attorney wants the case dismissed, according to court testimony Tuesday.

Shana Gaviola, formerly of Clovis, and Julio Sandoval, of Piedmont, Missouri, and a former dean of a boarding school for troubled youth, were indicted in August 2022 for their involvement in a scheme to kidnap Gaviola’s teenage son and secretly transport him to Missouri. The pair are accused of violating a protective order.

If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The case made national news as part of a growing awareness about so-called boarding schools and transportation companies that take students, often by force, to schools scattered across the country. Former students describe their experiences as extremely traumatic.

Gaviola’s attorney, George T. Pallas of Miami, filed the motion for dismissal arguing that prosecutor Michael Tierney was guilty of prosecutorial misconduct for speaking to Gaviola without an attorney during a happenstance encounter in May 2023.

The motion applies only to Gaviola and not Sandoval, whose lawyer has advocated for the trial to move forward.

Encounter at the Modernist in downtown Fresno

Gaviola, who was allowed to remain out of custody while awaiting trial, testified she felt uncomfortable and scared when Tierney came up to her at the Modernist Craft Cocktail Bar in downtown Fresno.

She was their with her boyfriend while Tierney walked in with several friends.

“He looked at me and smiled, and I was kind of confused why he was smiling and it was a flirty smile,” she said. “He left his group and came over and leaned in and shook my hand and he said ‘I am Michael Tierney’ and I said, ‘Yeah I know who you are.’”

Tierney said he didn’t recognize her and then asked her if she worked at the district attorney’s office. She said no.

“When I told him my name he looked surprised, kind of like he saw a ghost, ” she said. “I said so that means we can no longer talk and he said, ‘No that’s OK. We can talk, just not about your case.’”

Pallas asked Gaviola how she felt at that point.

“Like he was hitting on me,” she replied.

She said he told her that if he won the case, he would ask for the least amount of prison time.

“And then he said, after the case maybe we can go get a drink,” she said.

A second conversation

But that wasn’t the last encounter she would have with him that night, she said.

About 15 minutes later, she went to the restroom and as she was walking out, she ran into Tierney again, who was talking with someone on his phone.

Tierney testified that he was one the phone with Special Agent Alexia Crowe. He called to tell her he ran into Gaviola. Crowe was one of the agents involved in serving a search warrant on Gaviola’s car.

Gaviola said Tierney handed his phone to her and she and the agent spoke briefly.

“It is so crazy to be talking to you,” she told Crowe. “When I told my friends what happened, I told them five hot FBI agents swarmed my car ... and then Tierney said I bet she was the hottest.”

Crowe later testified that she was completely thrown off guard by the phone call, but nothing about the case was discussed.

During questioning, Pallas asked Tierney if he was sexually attracted to Gaviola.

“I would say she is not unattractive,” Tierney testified.

Pallas asked in a different way, “Is she hot?”

“No, to be honest,” Tierney replied.

Judge to rule on motion to dismiss

Pallas also wanted to know why Tierney didn’t just walk away after realizing he was talking to the woman he is prosecuting.

“I felt the social pressure to be polite,” Tierney said.

Tierney also denied asking Gaviola to have a drink with him after she got out of prison.

Tierney did admit that after speaking with Gaviola at the bar, he called her attorney at the time, longtime Fresno attorney Tony Capozzi, about what happened.

Capozzi testified that he did not believe that anything substantive was discussed that night.

U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston will rule on the motion to dismiss. If she denies the motion, she told both sides to be prepared for the trial to begin on Tuesday.

Tierney was nominated in September to fill the U.S Magistrate Judge position in Fresno. Once he clears a background investigation he is expected to begin his new post shortly after Jan. 5, 2026.

FRESNO COUNTY, CA - Wednesday morning, a preliminary 2.6 magnitude quake was registered close to Toms Place, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The tremor shook the region at 4:38 a.m. It occurred at a depth of 4 miles with the epicenter located roughly 14 miles southwest of Toms Place.

Did you feel it?

If you noticed the earthquake, you can submit a report through the USGS Felt Report form.

What to know about earthquakes

Magnitude measures the energy released at the source of the earthquake, the U. S. Geological Survey says. It replaces the old Richter scale. Quakes between 2.5 and 5.4 magnitude are often felt but rarely cause much damage, according to Michigan Tech. Earthquakes below 2.5 magnitude are seldom felt by most people.

Earthquakes' sudden, rapid shaking can cause fires, tsunamis, landslides or avalanches. They can happen anywhere, but are most common in Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, Puerto Rico and Washington, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

It is estimated that there are 500,000 detectable earthquakes in the world each year. 100,000 of those can be felt, and 100 of them cause damage.

What to do during an earthquake

If an earthquake strikes, it's best to protect yourself right away. Here are tips from experts:

If you're in a car: Pull over and stop. Set your parking brake.

If you're in bed: Turn face-down and cover your head with a pillow.

If you're outdoors: Stay away from buildings. Don't go inside.

If you're inside: Stay and don't run outdoors. Stay away from doorways.

The best way to protect yourself during an earthquake is to drop, cover and hold on, officials say. "Wherever you are, drop down to your hands and knees and hold onto something sturdy," officials say. "If you're using a wheelchair or walker with a seat, make sure your wheels are locked and remain seated until the shaking stops." Be sure to cover your head and neck with your arms, and crawl under a sturdy table if possible. If no shelter is available, crawl to an interior wall away from windows. Once under a table, officials say you should hold on with one hand and be ready to move with it.

"There can be serious hazards after an earthquake, such as damage to the building, leaking gas and water lines, or downed power lines," officials say. "Expect aftershocks to follow the main shock of an earthquake. Be ready to Drop, Cover, and Hold On if you feel an aftershock."

Source: The U.S. Geological Survey

This article was generated by the CA Earthquake Bot, software that analyzes structured information, such as data, and applies it to articles based on templates created by journalists in the newsroom. No human journalist was harmed in this experiment. You can report errors or bugs to mcclatchybot@mcclatchy.com.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this article previously misstated the driving distance from Fresno to Mount Whitney. The story was updated with the proper distance.

The corrected story is below.

A climber was injured rappelling a California mountain, leaving them stranded on a ledge, rescuers say.

Inyo County Search and Rescue got a call about an injured climber on Mount Whitney shortly after 5 p.m. on Sept. 21, the rescue nonprofit said in an Oct. 6 Facebook post.

With serious trauma after “an accident while rappeling,” the climber ended up “stranded on a ledge above their partner and incapable of using one of their arms,” rescuers said.

Eight search and rescue members responded with the hopes that a helicopter crew could hoist one team member to the climber and quickly take them from the area, rescuers said.

However, with “limited daylight and serious concerns about whether the terrain would accommodate a hoist,” rescuers said they set a second plan in motion; a ground crew started making their way to the injured hiker.

Just before dusk set in, rescuers said they tried the helicopter hoist approach.

Though rescuers could see the climber, “the steepness of the terrain” rendered a hoist rescue impossible.

At the same time, the nonprofit said rescue climbers were making their way to Whitney Portal.

After making verbal contact, rescuers said they soon reached the climber and began a medical assessment.

The climber’s partner stayed with them to aid in the rescue, the nonprofit said.

Rescuers said they set up a rope system and lowered the climber, who remained “calm and helpful in a scary and painful situation.”

Rescuers helped the climber off the rock, the nonprofit said.

The climber slowly made their way down the road, then to a hospital, rescuers said.

“Being injured and stranded high up on rocks is a dangerous and complex rescue,” rescuers said. “This climber was lucky to have some of our highly trained tech rescuers available.”

At 14,505 feet high, Mount Whitney is the highest peak in the continental United States, the National Park Service said.

It’s about 80 miles east from Fresno.

Fresno County’s west rural communities of Cantua Creek, El Povernir, and Five Points are at the epicenter of California’s clean energy transition and the world’s largest solar project.

The California Energy Commission (CEC) last month approved the Darden Clean Energy Project (DCEP), the first project under the state’s Opt-In Certification program.

The project will be the largest battery energy storage system in the world once it is built and will support the state’s progress to 100 percent clean electricity, according to state officials.

Projects seeking approval through the Opt-In Certification program are required to provide community and economic benefits agreements. Environmental justice groups had raised concerns whether the transition from agriculture to energy production would be equitable for the communities’ residents.

Enviromental advocates said the residents in the communities neighboring the project already face challenges such as undrinkable and unaffordable water, extreme heat, and historical disinvestment.

“We think clean energy is what we need. However, the way how you go into that transition and looking at the local impacts of those projects is something that we need to keep at the core of things,” said Nayamin Martinez executive director with the Central California Environmental Justice Network.

The approval of the solar project creates a precedent for the numerous other programs and projects what will be coming to the Valley, Martinez said.

The residents of the three predominantly Latino farmworkers communities formed Comunidades de Westside to advocate for their health and well-being and ensure there are benefits coming directly to their community from the nearby project.

Mariana Alvarenga, senior policy advocate with Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability, said residents asked the CEC not to approve the project at its June 11 meeting until residents agreed on the community benefits agreement plan with the developer. The agreement has since been finalized but it is not yet public.

The energy project is the first one to be approved under Assembly Bill 205’s “opt-in” permitting process that fast-tracks renewable energy development. Enviromental reviews must be completed within 270 days from when the project application is deemed complete.

More than 20 organizations across California supported Comunidades de Westside’s priorities, which included dust mitigation measures and for traffic to be rerouted during the construction of the project, which is estimated to take three years.

In a May letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom, CEC commissioners and environmental justice advocates urged the state Energy Commission to ensure that the Darden Clean Energy Project invests in community priorities and mitigate the impacts on nearby disadvantaged communities.

The residents and the organizations demanded “a just transition that centers community voices.”

Martinez said having strong community benefit agreements allows those companies to “demonstrate that they are going to be good neighbors by treating the residents that will be more affected in a just way.”

The DCEP project will be located four miles northwest of Five Points and three miles southeast of Cantua Creek and Westside Elementary School.

The solar power plant will be built on 9,500 acres of land in unincorporated western Fresno County that is no longer able to support agricultural production. The land was owned by the Westlands Water District.

The project, owned by IP Darden I, LLC, a subsidiary of Intersect Power, includes a 1,150-megawatt solar facility with approximately 3.1 million solar panels and up to 1,150 megawatts of battery storage, enough to power 850,000 homes for four hours.

Construction is projected to begin at the end of 2025, with the facility becoming fully operational in late 2027 or early 2028.

The project will create over 1,200 jobs during its peak construction phase and approximately 16 full-time operational positions, according to Elizabeth Knowles, head of community engagement for Intersect Power.

According to state officials, some of the community and economic benefits that DCEP is required to provide under the Opt-In Certification program includes:

This month, Intersect Power partnered with Centro La Familia to distribute air conditioning units to community members in Five Points and Cantua Creek affected by high temperatures. Approximately 250 units were distributed at both events.

The initiative was in direct response to community requests to address concerns about lack of cooling as part of the Darden Community Benefits plan, Knowles said.

Margarita Rocha, executive director with Centro La Familia, said the response from the community at the events was overwhelmingly positive.

CEC Commissioner Noemí Gallardo said the project “exemplifies a community-focused approach that advances the state’s energy goals while creating benefits for local workers and residents.”

Knowles said the project will commit $2 million over the first 10 years in direct community investments through our Community Benefits Plan, as well as $5 million over the lifetime of the project.

“Since 2023, we have had an ongoing commitment to being a strong partner to the region, working closely with local stakeholders to ensure the Darden Project delivers lasting benefits and truly elevates the communities closest to the site,” Knowles said.