State of Connecticut v. Gregory Cyrus

Summary

The court affirmed the Appellate Court’s judgment upholding dismissal of the charges because the state failed to establish that the trooper had an objectively reasonable and articulable suspicion that the object hanging from the defendant’s rearview mirror obstructed his view or distracted him. Although an officer need not know that a statutory violation actually occurred before making an investigative stop, the record had to contain specific facts supporting a reasonable suspicion of such a violation, and this record did not. Justice Vertefeuille, dissenting, would have reversed because the length and movement potential of the chain supported a reasonable suspicion warranting further investigation.