Lawyers for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the Boston Marathon bombing defendant, said Wednesday they will soon ask the judge in charge of the case to hold the trial somewhere other than Boston.
"The defense has now completed sufficient preliminary research to determine that a change of venue motion should be filed," they said in a motion filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court.
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But, they added, "additional and detailed expert analysis of the venue research and media surrounding this case is required to support a motion to change venue."
Tsarnaev's lawyers asked the judge to give them more time to file their request for a change of venue, which is currently due next Wednesday. Prosecutors haven't yet responded to the request, and the judge hasn't ruled on the motion.
Under federal law, granting a change of venue wouldn't necessarily mean moving the case out of Massachusetts, although it would mean moving it out of Boston.
Lawyers for Tsarnaev have previously remarked on the "saturation coverage" of the trial in court documents.
Tsarnaev, 20, could face the death penalty if he's convicted of using a weapon of mass destruction and malicious destruction of property resulting in death in the detonation of pressure-cooker bombs near the finish line of the famous race on April 15, 2013.
Tsarnaev's brother, Tamerlan, was killed in a shootout with police three days later.
— Pete Williams and Tom Winter