PONCE INLET, Fla. —The animal cruelty case against a Volusia County man accused of beating his dog to death may now move forward after the Fifth District Court of Appeals overturned a lower court's order to suppress some evidence.

Travis Archer is accused of beating 9-month-old Lab, named Ponce, at his Ponce Inlet home in April of 2017, but his attorneys argued some of the pictures and body camera video evidence, along with the remains of the dog, were illegally taken by police without a warrant.

The Fifth District Court of Appeals ruled because of the emergency nature of the situation, the officers were justified in seizing the evidence.

State lawmakers recently passed a bill called Ponce's Law that gives judges more leeway in sentencing offenders and allows them to bar someone convicted of animal cruelty from owning pets.