I want to exception handle 'list index out of range.'

You have two options; either handle the exception or test the length:

if len(dlist) > 1:
    newlist.append(dlist[1])
    continue

or

try:
    newlist.append(dlist[1])
except IndexError:
    pass
continue

Use the first if there often is no second item, the second if there sometimes is no second item.

A ternary will suffice. change:

gotdata = dlist[1]

to

gotdata = dlist[1] if len(dlist) > 1 else 'null'

this is a shorter way of expressing

if len(dlist) > 1:
    gotdata = dlist[1]
else: 
    gotdata = 'null'

Handling the exception is the way to go:

try:
    gotdata = dlist[1]
except IndexError:
    gotdata = 'null'

Of course you could also check the len() of dlist; but handling the exception is more intuitive.