NAGOYA (Kyodo) The Nagoya District Court ordered the state Thursday to pay 2.2 million yen in damages to a man acquitted of theft, saying the indictment was illegal.

Presiding Judge Kunio Sakuma said prosecutors indicted electrical engineer Takashi Aoyama, 37, although there were no reasonable grounds to prove his guilt.

Aoyama was charged with breaking into a Nagoya home in July 1999 and stealing cash.