Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo talks to Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban during the first quarter of an NBA game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday, April 11, 2017 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Romo was an honorary Mavericks team member. (Ashley Landis/The Dallas Morning News)
Staff Photographer
Former Cowboys QB Tony Romo will face civil penalties for four citations after he was arrested on suspicion of operating a vehicle while intoxicated in Wisconsin last week.
After he was arrested, Romo faced three citations for operating under the influence, unsafe passing on the right, and allegedly possessing an open bottle of an alcoholic beverage in his car, according to documents from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.
Romo was hit with a fourth citation on Monday for refusing to take a second breathalyzer test after he was arrested — an issue Wisconsin defense attorneys who spoke with The Dallas Morning News flagged as potentially more serious.
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Watch: Key moments from Tony Romo’s Wisconsin arrest video
“The refusal carries harsher penalties than the drunk driving,” said Tony Cotton, a Wisconsin defense attorney not involved in Romo’s case.
The CBS Sports NFL analyst was arrested in Milwaukee July 23 after an arresting officer found he performed “poorly” on a standard field sobriety test. He was visiting Wisconsin to compete in the Wisconsin Amateur Championship.
Julius Kim, a defense attorney listed as representing Romo in the case, did not immediately respond Wednesday to multiple phone call requests for comment on the citations.
Body camera footage released Tuesday night shows Romo refusing to take an initial breathalyzer test, saying he “heard from all the lawyers, don’t ever do that.” Taylor Hart, a criminal defense lawyer in Wisconsin not associated with the case, said Romo was within his rights to decline the initial test — and that he won’t face any consequences for doing so.
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“I also advise my clients to decline the preliminary breathalyzer test,” Hart said.
Related: Ex-Cowboys QB Tony Romo issued citation following Wisconsin arrest
The footage also shows Romo asking to speak with an attorney before submitting to sobriety tests — requests that the arresting officer repeatedly denied. Milwaukee-based trial attorney Claude-Allan Mihomme said the officer was within her right to deny Romo’s request, since the right to an attorney doesn’t kick in until after an individual is placed in custody.
Attorneys said Romo’s decision to refuse a second breathalyzer test after he was arrested could get him into hot water, since he was required to take the test under Wisconsin state law.
“It’s a bad idea to refuse,” Cotton said.
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Just like Texas, Wisconsin is an “implied consent” state — by getting on the road, drivers indirectly agree that they’ll submit to certain testing if officers believe they are driving under the influence. By refusing the second test, Hart said Romo triggered legal liability and the subsequent refusal citation.
The citation carries a more severe punishment than the OWI charge, according to Milhomme. Wisconsin is the last state in the nation to treat OWIs as civil offenses, carrying penalties of fines and temporary license suspensions rather than jail time.
Related: Former Cowboys QB Tony Romo arrested in Wisconsin, accused of operating while intoxicated
By refusing the second test, Romo now faces a year-long license revocation and the possibility of installing a mandatory vehicle lock device, which tests the car’s driver for alcohol before the car starts.
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Court documents show Romo’s attorney has already filed for a refusal hearing for the citation to determine if his client will face the year-long license revocation.
Romo is scheduled to appear in a Milwaukee county circuit court on Sept. 21.