A Haitian prosecutor examining the case of 10 Americans charged with kidnapping in the quake-hit country said he has not yet reached a decision on whether to release them.
"We are stopping for today and I am coming back on Monday to continue to examine the dossier," said Jean Serge Joseph.
"I must send conclusions to the judge concerning the detention order. I cannot say whether it will be favorable or not."
The failure to reach a decision raised the possibility that the US Baptist missionaries would remain behind bars until at least after the weekend.
Friday is a national day of mourning in Haiti since it marks the one-month anniversary of the quake.
A judicial source speaking on condition of anonymity told AFP it was possible the government could intervene and have the case taken up again over the long weekend, but that would be outside the legal norms.
The judge in the case, Bernard Saint-Vil, who has final say in the matter, told AFP earlier he had not made a recommendation to the prosecutor when sending him the dossier.
Saint-Vil handed the dossier to the prosecutor after more than two days of hearings, including testimony from the Americans and parents of the children.
"I have communicated all aspects of the dossier to the Port-au-Prince prosecutor, including the request for release by the Americans' lawyers, for his conclusions," Saint-Vil said earlier.
Asked whether he had recommended their release, he said he had not.
"I have communicated their lawyers' request," he said. "It is now up to the prosecutor to communicate his decision."
Saint-Vil added he was not obliged to follow the prosecutor's opinion.
Lawyers for the Americans have asked for provisional release for their clients while the case is investigated further -- though they have stressed they are also pushing for the charges to be dropped altogether.
The prosecutor has up to five working days to consider the request for release.
The 10 Americans from the New Life Children's Refuge were caught trying to take a busload of children they said they thought were orphans across the border into the Dominican Republican.
After it emerged the children had parents, the Americans' lawyers have sought to portray the Baptists as acting selflessly to help during Haiti's catastrophe. They say the group had no criminal intent.
Some of the parents have told the judge in the case they willingly gave up their children because they were unable to care for them following the devastation wrought by the January 12 disaster.
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