After spending 20 years in prison for something that never happened, can a person file a lawsuit against state?

Usually the conviction must be overturned or the inmate found to be innocent of the charges he was convicted of. You may want to contact an experienced civil rights attorney for a face-to-face consultation and give him/her all of the facts surrounding your situation. (S)he would then be in a better position to analyze your case and advise you of your options.

It is very difficult to do. I would suggest getting in contact with an attorney in your area who can review your case file.

Any lawsuit would be against an individual. The judge and prosecutor have complete immunity and cannot be sued. The prison guards were obeying a court order and cannot be sued for that. Also, the statute of limitations for most civil actions is 2 or 3 years (6 years for contract actions). Very probably the statute of limitations will be ruled to bar a lawsuit. Also, without a reversal, the conviction will be presumed to be lawful and correct, and thus not a proper topic for reversal. When a person is able to sue after so many years, it normally is because of newly discovered evidence that led to a reversal. Some courts find that the reversal is a new act that restarts your time clock for filing a civil lawsuit. If you could not show at the trial any reasonable doubt about the crime occurring and you committing it, one would think you could not establish your position by a preponderance of the evidence in a civil suit, which would be harder to show than a reasonable doubt.

The answer is yes, you can file a suit against the state, however, I would suggest that one uses caution before filing any lawsuit. While the law provides you the right to file a suit, the law also provides that if the suit is not in good faith and without grounds, then the person filing the suit is subject to penalties and sanctions for filing the suit, including but not limited to owing the defendants' court costs and attorney fees. I would recommend that you first work on getting the conviction overturned.

More than likely the statute of limitations has long expired since most civil lawsuits have a statute of limitations of just a few years. Contact an experienced civil attorney in your area to be sure.