A federal judge denied an attorney’s request for a delay in the trial of a Minneapolis man charged in connection with the 2004 break-in at the UI Spence Labs.

Scott DeMuth, 22, is charged with conspiracy to commit animal-enterprise terrorism. On Nov. 14, 2004, four masked individuals broke into Spence Labs and caused around $450,000 in damages.

The Animal Liberation Front claimed credit for the break-in.

According to official court documents, the reasons set forth for the trial’s delay — including that DeMuth’s attorney had a family situation, which prevented him from attending pretrial motions — were “unacceptable.”

— by Sam Lane