TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Suspended state attorney Andrew Warren’s ongoing fight against Gov. Ron DeSantis to be reinstated to office will have a faster process in federal court.
According to a new order from the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, the suspended 13th Judicial Circuit State Attorney from Tampa will face the governor’s legal team in court in May.
In February, Warren made an appeal to a higher court and requested a faster trial, citing a decision by U.S. District Judge Robert L. Hinkle. In January, Hinkle ruled DeSantis had violated state and federal law when he suspended Warren, but said that the court lacked jurisdiction to reinstate the state attorney.
After Hinkle’s decision, Warren directly asked DeSantis to reinstate him to office, but was rejected by the governor.
While Warren is undertaking a concurrent second appeal in the Florida Supreme Court, U.S. Circuit Judge Jill Pryor granted his motion to expedite the case. It’ll bring the Tampa attorney and Florida governor’s legal teams to Montgomery, Ala. for the appeal in May.
In his request for the expedited process, Warren said “the public needs resolution at the earliest possible opportunity of whether the governor illegally removed the duly elected prosecutor in the state’s third most populous city.”
Legal briefs in the case will be due between March 13 to April 26. It should go to court on the first week of May. WFLA.com has reached out to the Florida governor’s office for comment.