A few plea agreements were reached and some defendants were released.
The military tribunals (which started with Mr. Bush's kangaroo courts and now involve a system that is somewhat more refined but still flawed) have managed to extract a few minor plea deals.
Few plea-bargainers have had as much of an impact as Machado Sr, who secretly taped conversations that led to the downfall of three ministers and could yet result in the fall of other senior politicians.
Even worse than the monorail breakdown was a lack of any timely announcements other than a few desperate-sounding pleas asking people to be patient but giving no advice at all to those seeking to get out of the airport area.
Turning again to the client in her office, she asks: "Now, Mr Brand, what can I do for you?" Within an hour Covington is making her way to court, where she has to quickly help a few defendants take pleas before driving to West Feliciana Parish to grab some files at the courthouse there, after which she has to stop to pick up the mail.
While the lawyers said they did not think sentencing would take place for a few weeks, the plea deal is believed to involve community service and at least 60 days in a minimum security jail in Suffolk County.
A few years ago, the pleas for financial aid by a few students who wanted to take college courses over the Internet barely elicited a yawn on Capitol Hill.
Yet in the presidential vote Mr Kibaki emerged victorious at the last moment and had himself sworn in only a few minutes later, forestalling pleas from all sides even from the head of the election commission he himself had appointed for a pause to investigate mounting claims of malpractice.
A few states require that plea offers be made in the presence of the defendant, but Missouri did not have that procedural safeguard.
Whatever the politicians make of it now, it was, for a few hours, a thrilling plea to them, reflecting several decades of complicated history, to listen to a simple call.
