I would think that th defendant would have to petition the judge to dismiss it, but that should just be a technicality.

It would survive until it is technically dismissed, but that should be a matter of form.

it will survive until acted on by a judge, to dismiss, continue, etc.

Welcome to Fluther.

Are you writing a book, or is something this odd really going on somewhere?

Assuming a “federal fraud charge” for which the suspect is arrested and temporarily jailed, I can’t imagine him not bailing out of jail after the arrest, if only to assist with defending against the federal criminal charge. I would also expect the defendant in the civil case to request a continuance until the federal charge was settled, either to bolster its case or request dismissal of the case altogether (in case of a federal criminal conviction of the plaintiff) or seek a settlement (in case of acquittal on the federal criminal charges).

This is really going on (in the U.S., I should have specified). Defendant has requested dismissal multiple times and is adamant that there will be no settlement offered. Plaintiff already received 90K of civil fines from the judge, I think for contempt / witholding evidence. Plaintiff may have started the case hoping for a settlement and then just refused to drop it.

Edited to add URL: http://money.cnn.com/2012/10/26/technology/social/paul-ceglia-arrested/