One of the first big stories I covered as a young journalist in Orange County in the early 1970s was the investigation and indictments of several members of the Laguna Beach drug cult “The Brotherhood of Eternal Love.”
The Brotherhood promoted peace and love all the while importing large amounds of hashish and manufacturing copious quantities of LSD. They gained nationwide notoriety with their connection to LSD guru Dr. Timothy Leary, who was arrested in Laguna Beach, convicted of drug use and sentenced to prison, from which he promptly escaped with assistance from the radical group the Weathermen and with financing from The Brotherhood.
I was reminded recently that big stories never end, they just morph into new angles, follow-ups and updates.
Brenice Lee Smith, the last of dozens of Brotherhood associates indicted in 1972 to be arrested, made his first appearance Monday in Orange County Superior Court after he was arrested last month while trying to re-enter the country. He spent 37 years on the run, mostly in a monastery in Tibet, according to Gerardo Gutierrez, his Chicago attorney.
The case has been around for so long that many veterans of the Orange County justice system have some connection to it.
For example, Superior Court Judge Thomas M. Goethals, the presiding judge of OC’s criminal calendar, who heard Smith’s bail motion Monday, said he had some dealings with the Brotherhood case as a prosecutor early in his career. And Prosecutor Jim Hicks is the son of Cecil Hicks, who was Orange County’s District Attorney in 1972.
Goethals, who set Smith’s bail at $1.1 million, recalled on the bench that the Brotherhood indictment “in its day was a notorious case.”
Gutierrez said Smith voluntarily returned to the United States to face the indictment, even though it appears that he was apprehended at the San Francisco Airport last month when airport security noticed an outstanding arrest warrant as he deplaned after a flight that originated in Nepal.
Gutierrez, who is seeking authorization to practice law in California, said Smith also returned because he has family in the States, including two sons and a niece.
Goethals scheduled Smith’s next hearing for Oct. 16, at which time Gutierrez expects to have his California Bar Card and will argue for a reduction in bail.
