TAMPA, Fla. — A federal appeals court just gave former Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren hope in his lawsuit against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that a lower court decision left out First Amendment violations made by DeSantis when he suspended Warren from office, and sent the case back to be reconsidered. 

DeSantis initially removed Warren from office, suspending him and accusing him of, among other things, not enforcing the law.

In its decision Wednesday, the court found that there was no basis for that claim.

"Because DeSantis lacked probable cause to believe Warren neglected his duty or was incompetent, we do not address whether probable cause would have defeated Warren's claim," the opinion said.

Warren accused DeSantis of suspending him for political reasons and actions protected by the First Amendment, and took him to court, saying the governor did not have a legal right to take him out of elected office.

While it did find that DeSantis violated Warren's First Amendment rights on two of six factors, the district court ruled that the governor would have suspended him based on the remaining four, and ruled in DeSantis' favor.

In a Wednesday afternoon statement, Warren said: "This is what we’ve been fighting for from the beginning — the protection of democracy. We look forward to returning to the District Court to obtain the relief that has been denied to me and all the voters of Hillsborough County for 17 months: reinstating the person elected by the voters." 

The appellate court listed the factors it found to have prompted Warren's suspension as:

1. Warren's political affiliations with the Democratic Party and George Soros
2. Warren's criminal justice reform advocacy, including the advocacy statements he signed
3. A single sentence in an abortion statement committing to refrain from prosecuting abortion cases
4. Warren's adoption of a Low-Level Offense Policy and a Bike Policy
5. Warren's approach and performance as a reform prosecutor
6. DeSantis' anticipated political benefit from suspending a progressive prosecutor

The district court found that the first two factors in the list were protected by the First Amendment, but the remaining four were not.

The appeals court, though, found that on top of the first two factors, the sentence in the abortion statement was protected by the First Amendment, and that the First Amendment precluded DeSantis from suspending Warren for political benefit. 

The ruling sent the case back to the lower court and ordered it to reconsider whether DeSantis would have still suspended Warren based on only the two remaining factors: his performance in office and the pair of office policies.

Just this week, Warren announced he's not seeking re-elction as state attorney. DeSantis appointed Suzy Lopez to take his place.

Lopez is running for election.