From the October 17, 1902 edition of the Richmond Dispatch :

Prisioners in City Jail Seeking Continuences Rather Than Face The Present Composition

The present jury in th Hustings Court is one after the heart of Judge Witt and Commonwealth’s Attorney Richardson. It has gotten such a reputation for giving good long penitentiary terms that all of the prisioners confined in the city jail awaiting trial are seeking to have their cases postponed a month rather than to face it. The prisioners evidently are of the opinion that it would be better to wait another month and save possibly a year or two on Oregon Hill than to be tried during this term of court.

The reference to Oregon Hill is because the state penitentiary used to be here, casting a particular pallor over the whole area. Here is an old picture of it:

At least part of the wall still exists as part of Ethyl Corporation/Afton Chemical’s complex on Belvidere.