( CNN ) -- Lawyers for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Wednesday asked that the federal trial of the suspected Boston Marathon bomber be moved to Washington , D.C . In a motion filed with U.S. District Court of Massachusetts , lawyers for Tsarnaev , 20 , claimed that the defense team 's own venue survey revealed an `` overwhelming presumption of guilt '' in the state , prejudgment as to the potential penalty -- the prosecution is seeking the death penalty -- and an `` extraordinary high number '' of potential jurors who either attended or participated in the 2013 Boston Marathon or know someone who did . Prosecutors said Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his brother planted bombs at the finish line of the 2013 race . Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed during the manhunt that paralyzed Boston in the day the blasts . Dzhokhar Tsarnaev pleaded not guilty to killing four people and wounding more than 200 in the attacks . Defense lawyers said the `` publicity , tremendous local impact and galvanizing community reaction '' forced a change of venue in case against Timothy McVeigh , who was executed for his role in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that took 168 lives . `` The community impact here is even greater than that present in McVeigh , given that the bombings occurred at the Boston Marathon on the day thousands of Bostonians and others from the region gathered to celebrate the runners , the Red Sox , and Patriots Day , the indelible fear that friends and family could have been killed or injured , the trauma experienced by those in the region for four more days while the police sought the perpetrators , and the hundreds of thousands of Boston area residents who sheltered in place during the climactic final day of the search , '' the motion said . `` If a change of venue was warranted in McVeigh , it is even more compelled by the facts presented here . '' Defense lawyers surveyed the Southern District of New York in Manhattan and the federal court district in Washington , both of which are `` reasonably close , accessible to witnesses and interested persons , and able to logistically accommodate a trial of this magnitude , '' the motion said . Washington would be the more favorable location , it added . In Boston and Springfield , Massachusetts , the survey found that 57.9 % and 51.7 % of the respondents , respectively , said they believed the defendant was guilty , compared to 47.9 % and 37.4 % for Manhattan and Washington . In addition , 37 % of the respondents in Boston and 35 % in Springfield believed Tsarnaev should receive the death penalty . Defense lawyers asked the court for more time to study the issue before the November trial date . Also on Wednesday , U.S. District Judge George O'Toole in Massachusetts heard arguments about whether Tsarnaev 's alleged `` betrayal '' of the United States was an aggravating factor for seeking the death penalty against him . A defense motion accused prosecutors of trying to use the suspect 's foreign birth and immigration to imply that he was `` more blameworthy , and more deserving of severe punishment '' than a native-born person who commits the identical crime . The government has said that part of Tsarnaev 's motive `` was to provide aid and comfort to America 's enemies . '' Prosecutors also said that after Tsarnaev received asylum from the United States , he `` enjoyed the freedoms of a United States citizen ; and then betrayed his allegiance to the United States '' by killing and maiming its people , according to court filing . O'Toole agreed with the defense , saying that drawing a distinction between naturalized and natural born citizens was `` highly inappropriate . ''
Defense lawyers say it 's impossible to seat an impartial jury in Massachusetts . Prosecutors say Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his brother planted bombs at 2013 Boston Marathon . Tsarnaev has pleaded not guilty . Three people died and more than 200 were wounded in the attack .