Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Domestic Violence
When criminal domestic violence charges are filed in addition to a civil injunction petition, does the dismissal of the criminal charges mean the injunction gets dismissed as well? This was an issue in the case Thompson v. Vilches, 3D24-1814 (Fla. 3d DCA September 10, 2025).
The father in this domestic violence case obtained an inunction against the mother of his children. It was alleged that the mother hit the father in the head while the father was corporally punishing their child. The domestic violence injunction was entered by default after the mother failed to appear at the hearing on the petition. Subsequently, the mother’s criminal charges stemming from the same incident were dropped because the criminal court determined she was immune from prosecution under Florida’s Stand Your Ground Law. The mother then filed a motion to vacate the injunction citing the dismissal of the criminal charges. The trial court denied her motion and she appealed.
The appellate court affirmed, holding “Given the lack of a record, we do not discern any abuse of discretion in the denial of the motion to vacate. [. . .] We therefore affirm, but we do so without prejudice to further consideration of timesharing by the lower court, the domestic violence court, or the family court in any separately filed proceedings.”
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