Court transcripts obtained by Baptist News Global in the federal case USA v. Queen indicate Matthew Queen, former Southwestern Seminary provost and evangelism professor, may seek a plea deal with the government, file motions to suppress evidence or make motions to dismiss the case outright.
BNG reported on June 12 that a trial date has been set for Dec. 9.
Matthew Queen
Queen’s indictment and forthcoming trial comes as part of the Department of Justice’s larger probe into sexual abuse in the Southern Baptist Convention. A New York grand jury indicted Queen on one count of obstruction of justice through falsification of records relating to an alleged act of sexual abuse by a former seminary student, Christian Flores.
According to a booking record and incident report obtained by BNG via a Public Information Act request, Flores was arrested Jan. 24, 2023, on a charge of felony sexual assault via forcible sodomy through the use of a personal weapon.
Southwestern Seminary allegedly failed to report Flores’ alleged criminal act to the Department of Justice in conjunction with a federal subpoena. Queen is accused of falsifying notes of a conversation related to Flores’ alleged act of abuse after Terri Stovall, Southwestern’s dean of women, created a document outlining the seminary police department’s failure to act on the allegation. Former Southwestern Chief of Police Kevin Collins left Southwestern in the summer of 2023.
On Jan. 26, 2023, after a service of worship in MacGorman Chapel, Stovall, Queen and former Southwestern Chief of Staff Heath Woolman held a meeting and conducted a conversation. Woolman allegedly directed Stovall to destroy the document and make it “go away.” Queen is accused of having forged notes and lying about Woolman’s directive for Stovall to destroy her document. Queen disputes that account.
What remains unclear is if and how this charge of falsification of records and the seminary police’s alleged failure to act appropriately, as recorded in the Stovall document, affected the outcome of the criminal investigation into Flores.
An email to the Johnson County Criminal District Attorney inquiring about the case status of Flores’ felony charge prompted the following response via email on Thursday, June 20, from Stephanie L. Miller, Johnson County assistant district attorney: “You ask for the status of a case related to Christian Matthew Flores. A case was submitted to our office and it is currently unindicted.”
Flores was arrested 17 months ago. BNG has not been able to ascertain his whereabouts or legal status.
In a May 21 conference with the government and Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, Queen’s attorney Sam Schmidt suggested amid a request to the court for additional time to make motions that he believes “there is a valid motion to dismiss here.” Schmidt also suggested that “there may or may not be suppression motions,” given “some of the documents and information that I received from both the government and his prior attorney relating to proffer agreements.”
A proffer agreement is a legal term for possible plea deals with defendants who receive lighter — or no — sentences in return for testifying against other bigger fish.
Schmidt’s statement that Queen had been engaged in proffer agreement talks indicates the government may have been using Queen to gather evidence to prosecute other current or former Southwestern administrators.
Schmidt’s contention that there may be grounds for suppression motions also raises new questions about the government’s prosecution of Queen. Suppression motions are typically reserved for when a criminal defendant believes evidence collected in discovery that may or will be used against them was collected inappropriately or in a way that violated their civil rights.
The court set Schmidt’s deadline for all such potential motions for Aug. 16. The government’s deadline for responding to the motions is Aug. 31. Discovery in the case was completed June 4.
The court excluded time until Aug. 16 in its clock under the Speedy Trial Act, giving the government and the defendant more time to prepare arguments or potentially work out a plea deal. If Queen takes a plea, it would likely be in exchange for information that would aid the government’s investigation into Southwestern Seminary.
As of the date of this publication, no motions for dismissal or suppression have been filed, and no conferences are currently scheduled. This is a developing story.
Related articles:
Former seminary administrator pleads not guilty, is placed on leave by his NC church
Former Southwestern administrator indicted for falsifying sexual abuse records