In a brief announcement that surprised everyone concerned, the judges said only that they were "prolonging" their decision on whether Einhorn is to be returned to the United States to face a new trial for the murder of Helen "Holly" Maddux in 1977.

Einhorn, 58, remained free to return to his home in a rural village north of here, although he must regularly report to the local police to fulfill requirements of a pending illegal-entry case.

The delay was announced so abruptly by the presiding judge, Claude Arrighi of the Bordeaux Court of Appeal here, that Maddux's three sisters -- who had traveled at their own expense from the United States to hear the decision -- did not have time to enter the courtroom.

A white-bearded, jeans-wearing Einhorn, attending the hearing with his Swedish wife, Annika Flodin, smiled afterward and did a little dance. As usual, he did not speak to reporters.

Maddux's sisters said they hoped the delay meant the judges were taking more time to consider the extradition request.

"This isn't easy for us; we have families and responsibilities," said Elisabeth "Buffy" Hall, whose 14-year-old daughter, Holly, was named for Hall's dead sister. "But like Arnold Schwarzenegger, we'll be back" on Feb. 18, she said.

Despite the sisters' hopes, lawyers on both sides warned against drawing any inference from the postponement.

French court delays "happen very often," said Jacques Defos du Rau, who is arguing the U.S. demand for extradition. "Judges start their work and there is another matter to turn to and they don't have time to wind things up. . . . There is no interpretation possible."

Einhorn's attorney, Dominique Delthil, said he assumed the ruling was postponed "for technical reasons -- time, lack of time."

The case against Einhorn dates to 1979, when the mummified body of Maddux, his former girlfriend, was discovered in his Powelton Village apartment. He was charged with murder but fled the country before his trial could begin. A Philadelphia court convicted him of first-degree murder in absentia in 1993.

In June 1997 he was captured in the French village of Champagne-Mouton. That December, the French court rejected a first extradition attempt on grounds that Einhorn would not be granted a new trial if returned to the United States -- something guaranteed under French law. Pennsylvania has since passed a law granting Einhorn a new trial, the basis of the second extradition request.