Zerkin had asked Moussaoui if he believed his court-appointed defence team was in a conspiracy to kill him. Moussaoui responded that they had been engaged in "criminal non-assistance". Specifically, he said, the lawyers should have sought a change of venue from Virginia because jurors there were more likely to give the death penalty because of the proximity of the Pentagon, one of the targets of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the US.
One of the first motions Moussaoui filed when he won the right to represent himself in 2002 was seeking a change of venue. Moussaoui also said he no longer wanted to be executed as the death penalty was not in line with Islamic teaching, but doubted that his testimony held any sway with the jurors considering his sentence.