Domestic violence (DV) continues is an ongoing costly issue for the criminal justice system, Research indicates the prosecutor’s filing decision is important to keeping DV victims safe, but there is little research examining prosecutorial filing decisions in DV cases. This study used focal concerns as a theoretical framework to explore which legal and extra-legal factors impact prosecutorial filing decisions in DV cases. The study utilized data collected from 731 misdemeanor and felony DV cases from an urban County in Florida between January 2017 – December 2018. Two binomial logistic regression models were used to predict the likelihood a DV case would be filed on any charge, filed on a DV specific charge or not filed. Results showed some support for focal concerns but findings suggest that factors impacting this decision vary based upon case severity (i.e. misdemeanor, felony). A weapon present decreased the filing likelihood for misdemeanor cases but victim requests not to prosecute and a public attorney decreased filing likelihood for felonies. The prosecutor’s decision to file charges is a powerful tool to keep victims safe and should be based on legal facts and risk of future harm, but here these factors had little to no impact on this decision.

中文翻译：

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家庭暴力案件中的检察决策：检察官是否追究犯罪者的责任？

家庭暴力 (DV) 仍然是刑事司法系统持续的一个代价高昂的问题，研究表明检察官的立案决定对于保护 DV 受害者的安全很重要，但很少有研究检查 DV 案件中的检察立案决定。本研究使用焦点问题作为理论框架，探讨哪些法律和法外因素影响家庭暴力案件的起诉决定。该研究利用了 2017 年 1 月至 2018 年 12 月期间从佛罗里达州一个城市县收集的 731 起轻罪和重罪 DV 案件的数据。使用了两个二项式逻辑回归模型来预测 DV 案件以任何指控提起的可能性，以 DV 提起具体费用或未提交。结果显示对焦点问题有一些支持，但调查结果表明影响该决定的因素因案件严重程度（即轻罪、重罪）而异。武器存在降低了轻罪案件提起诉讼的可能性，但受害人要求不起诉，而公共律师则降低了重罪提起诉讼的可能性。检察官提出指控的决定是保护受害者安全的有力工具，应该基于法律事实和未来受到伤害的风险，但这些因素对这一决定几乎没有影响。