After his arrest, the State filed an information charging him with one count of DUI and one count of driving with a revoked license. The State also filed a part two information charging him with fourth offense DUI based upon three prior DUI convictions in Iowa. The prior convictions included two convictions for third offense DUI constituting felonies under Iowa law. The order also granted the State leave to file an amended part two information. The State argues the trial court erred in this interpretation.
Statutory interpretation is a question of law subject to de novo review.
However, the trial court erred in stopping there. Under that interpretation, a DUI defendant with a prior felony third offense under the laws of this state is subject to a Class 5 felony for a later offense while a defendant with a prior felony third offense under the laws of another state is only subject to a Class 6 felony for a later offense. There is no rational explanation for this disparate treatment. The Legislature's intention with this statute was to treat prior DUI offenses from other states the same as those from this state for purposes of repeat offender prosecutions. In Peterson, the State of Iowa sought to revoke the driving privileges of a habitual DUI offender.