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Case No. 19-0048

For summaries from opinions prior to August, 2018, view PDF versions here

David Michael Johnston
v.
Iowa Department of Transportation

David Johnston filed a petition for judicial review after the Iowa Department of Transportation (IDOT) revoked his driving privileges due to the commission of three offenses enumerated in Iowa’s habitual-offender statute. The district court denied the petition and the court of appeals affirmed the denial. Johnston seeks further review contending the court of appeals erred (1) in finding he did not preserve error on the issue of whether the IDOT failed to show a law enforcement vehicle was pursuing him, (2) in finding a deferred judgment is a conviction when calculating whether he is a habitual offender under Iowa Code section 321.555(1), and (3) in using the dates of the predicate offense, rather than the dates of conviction, in determining whether an individual is a habitual offender under section 321.555(1).

County:
Polk

Applicant

David Michael Johnston

Resister

Iowa Department of Transportation

Attorney for the Applicant

Christopher Stewart

Attorney for the Resister

Michelle E. Rabe

Supreme Court

Oral Argument Schedule

Non-Oral

Jan 21, 2021 1:30 PM

Briefs

Supreme Court Opinion

Opinion Number:
19-0048
Date Published:
Apr 16, 2021
Date Amended:
Jun 21, 2021

Court of Appeals

Court of Appeals Opinion

Opinion Number:
19-0048
Date Published:
May 13, 2020
Summary

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Jeanie K. Vaudt, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  (11 pages)

            The Iowa Department of Transportation (IDOT) revoked a man’s driving privileges pursuant to a habitual-offender statute.  He appeals from the district court’s denial of his petition for judicial review.  OPINION HOLDS: The appellant’s argument that the subsection of Iowa’s habitual-offender statute pertaining to eluding contains an element not present in Iowa’s eluding statute was not raised to IDOT and is therefore unpreserved.  Iowa precedent allows IDOT to count a deferred judgment as a “final conviction” for purposes of Iowa Code section 321.555(1) (2018), and it is the date of an offense, not the date of conviction, that counts for purposes of the time periods enumerated in section 321.555(1).

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