Ancestral nephew of Washington jailed

An ancestral nephew of George Washington is wanted by French authorities on charges of bludgeoning a fellow American at a nightclub, and he remains in U.S. custody fighting extradition.

A magistrate judge refused Monday to throw out an arrest warrant and criminal complaint accusing John Augustine Washington V of using a vodka bottle to strike a man in St. Tropez, France, in July.

London-based financier Colin Hall, 36, spent several days in a coma, and the assault became front-page news in Europe.

Washington, an Oxford University history student who says he is a descendant of the first U.S. president's brother, John, was arrested on an international warrant Dec. 18 at the Chautauqua Institution, a learning and arts retreat in southwestern New York.

His attorney, Amy Martoche, tried to get Washington freed Monday by challenging the contents of the arrest warrant and complaint. Magistrate Judge Leslie Foschio allowed both to stand.

Washington _ who is 43 but lists his age as 26 on his student identity card _ declined to appear for the hearing in a Buffalo courtroom. He could get five years in prison if convicted of the assault.

French authorities have 60 days from the time of Washington's arrest to submit formal extradition papers. In the meantime, the U.S. government has filed documents portraying Washington as a flight risk who ran from French police as acquaintances urged him to turn himself in.

Among the documents is a letter signed "John Washington" to a woman named Paula saying he believed he drank something laced with the date-rape drug Rohypnol at the nightclub.

"I expected at this point to be tooling around Europe with two beautiful girls in my leased Renault," the letter said. "Instead, I have received over 17 death threats from the Mafia, am fervently pursued by the tabloid press... The last time I hit someone I was nine years old."

In another letter, Washington refers to himself as "the most hated person in England right now."