MA man accused of poisoning student's wine

BOSTON (AP) - A Massachusetts man is fighting extradition to Scotland, where he is facing attempted murder charges for allegedly poisoning a fellow college student's wine.

Alexander Hilton, of Princeton, Mass., appeared Thursday in federal court in Boston and asked to be released on bail pending a March 7 extradition hearing. A judge did not immediately rule.

Prosecutors say the 21-year-old Hilton was attending the University of St. Andrews in Fife, Scotland, in March 2011 when he spiked another American's wine with methanol, also called wood alcohol.

The student from Virginia suffered severe nausea and headaches and temporarily lost vision. Authorities say he would have died had he not gone to the hospital.

The Boston Globe reports that Hilton's lawyer says his client is mentally ill.

St. Andrews is Scotland's oldest university, founded in 1413.