State v. Porter

Defendant Donald L. Porter appeals the imposition of a felony sentence following his conviction for driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor (DUI), third offense. 23 V.S.A. § 1210(d). Defendant argues that the use of a prior, uncounseled DUI conviction to support a felony third-offense sentence violates his federal and state constitutional rights to counsel and is barred by our decision in State v. Lafountain, 160 Vt. 313, 316, 628 A.2d 1243, 1245 (1993). Because we decide today that the recent decision of the United States Supreme Court in Nichols v. United States, 511 U.S. 738,…