LOS ANGELES, Jul. 24 – Mary Brunner, 26, former member of Charles Manson’s hippie “family” indicted in the torture slaying of musician Gary Hinman, was freed Thursday.

At the conclusion of a two-day hearing, Superior Judge Kathleen Parker granted a writ of habeas corpus, ruling that Miss Brunner’s immunity should be reinstated and that the murder indictment against her was “premature.”

Miss Brunner, a slender, blue-eyed blonde who has testified that she held a pillow over Hinman’s face just before he died, is now free to return to her home in Madison, Wis., where she once worked as a librarian.

Miss Brunner was charged with the Hinman killing after she allegedly failed to meet terms of an immunity agreement she made with the district attorney’s office.

She had been granted immunity by the prosecution in return for eyewitness testimony against those charged with murdering Hinman.

However, the immunity was revoked and she was indicted for murder after she changed her story several times during the murder trial of Robert K. Beausoleil, who was convicted last month and sentenced to die for the Hinman slaying.

Miss Brunner testified at the Beausoleil trial and later before the Los Angeles County Grand Jury that she was present during the weekend last July when Hinman was stabbed and beaten to death.

Her grand jury testimony led to murder indictments in the Hinman slaying against Manson and two members of the “family,” Susan Denise Atkins and Bruce Davis.

In highly emotional arguments Thursday, the prosecution and defense battled over the fate of the young woman, who said she had gone back on her testimony in the Beausoleil case because she felt personally responsible for his death sentence.

Defense attorneys James E. Patterson and Howard J. Weitzman argued that Miss Brunner had met the terms of the immunity agreement and that she could not be prosecuted for murder because she still remained “under the umbrella of immunity.”

“It’s far better that this woman go unpunished than the prosecution be allowed to play fast and loose with the law,” Patterson said at one point.

He told the judge that if Miss Brunner was prosecuted, then “you are saying (to potential prosecution witnesses) that the district attorney’s office in this county will not protect you.”

Dep. Dist. Atty. Burton Katz, countered by saying that Miss Brunner’s “grant of immunity was conditional on certain obligations she was to fulfill.” He said she was granted immunity only on condition that she testify at all court actions arising from the Hinman murder.

He said that when Miss Brunner shouted out in court that “Bobby (Beausoleil) isn’t guilty” after testifying that Beausoleil was Hinman’s murderer, she meant “to undermine the very underpinnings of the conviction of Robert Beausoleil,” and that this constituted a violation of the immunity agreement.

“She did everything she could to thwart the process of justice,” Katz said.

Judge Parker ruled in favor of Miss Brunner after saying: “That the people are disenchanted with their witness is obvious and I think with considerable reason.”

However, Judge Parker said, “It seems in me that up to this point, at least, the defendant Mary Brunner has, although with reluctance, complied with the conditions of the grant of immunity.”

As part of the immunity agreement, Judge Parker ruled that Miss Brunner would have to testify at the trial of Manson, Miss Atkins and Davis.

After the hearing, Miss Brunner, wearing a pink maxi dress that had been made for her by members of the Manson “family,” said she was “happy and excited.”

She said she had not made any plans, but that “I’m going home, wherever that is.”

By DOUG SHUIT