A New Jersey judge says a man who spent more than 20 years in prison before his convictions were overturned can go forward with a lawsuit on an alleged civil rights violation and possibly other claims if those are amended.

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Paul Kamienski filed the complaint, alleging the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office engaged in malicious prosecution and withheld potentially exculpatory evidence after charging him in the murders of Miami couple Barbara and Henry DeTournay. Kamienski was convicted as an accomplice to murder, and a federal appeals court in 2009 threw out the convictions, saying that prosecutors had not presented enough evidence at trial.

A New Jersey judge ruled Wednesday that Kamienski's claim of civil rights violation can go forward. But the judge tossed out other claims in the lawsuit.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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