Court documents filed in the federal case USA v. Queen indicate Matthew Queen, former Southwestern Seminary interim provost and evangelism professor, now says God spoke to him in a dream, which caused him to change his testimony to the FBI.
One of the allegations against Queen was that he had changed his testimony about what happened when he and other seminary administrators were told about a male student’s alleged rape of a woman off campus.
Matthew Queen
Queen has been charged with one count of obstruction of justice for falsifying records. He has been placed on administrative leave from the North Carolina church he now serves.
Queen now claims he was led to change his testimony to the government and create the offending document that led to his charges after being told by the seminary’s legal counsel “to pray and meditate to remember” and “woke up from a dream believing that he remembered more” of a conversation about which he is alleged to have falsified records.
The odd claim was made in a letter to the court by Queen’s attorney, Sam Schmidt, in response to the government’s recent petition for a protective order seeking to block Queen from sharing “certain discovery materials with his employer and with the press” after Queen refused to enter into a proposed protective order while the government sought to produce discovery in full.
Schmidt has alleged the government defamed Queen with its May 21 press release.
“As a result,” Schmidt said, “Mr. Queen has been suspended from his position as the lead pastor of Friendly Avenue Baptist Church, which he has held since March 1, 2024. His reputation has been damaged, he was required to withdraw at least one contribution to a forthcoming publication, and he has had previously arranged speaking engagements canceled, affecting potential honoraria.”
Schmidt does concede in the document that Queen did “falsely” claim to two seminary employees that he had contemporaneous notes of a conversation in which former Southwestern Chief of Staff Heath Woolman told Dean of Women Terri Stovall to make a document outlining the seminary police department’s alleged coverup of the abuse “go away.”
Schmidt paints Queen as a deep man of faith who was religiously manipulated by the seminary and its legal counsel to change his story and produce documentation he did not have. He provides new insight into Queen’s defense strategy of seeking to exculpate himself by citing the alleged failures of other employees, including Woolman and former Southwestern Police Chief Kevin Collins.
Schmidt paints Queen as a deep man of faith who was religiously manipulated by the seminary and its legal counsel to change his story and produce documentation he did not have.
A source from Southwestern Seminary who spoke to BNG on background expressed incredulity at Queen’s claims of a supposed religious revelation to change his testimony. Another source stated the claim was “bizarre.”
In an interview with BNG, Schmidt indicated Queen was not seeking to share the discovery materials with his church or the press, but only pertinent information he thinks will clear his name because of being placed on leave by his church and broad misrepresentations he believes have come from the government and the media.
When asked by BNG why he believed the government had filed a petition for a protective order to prevent Queen from disseminating this information, Schmidt replied, “Because that’s what the government does.”
The government has argued in its proposed order that producing discovery materials for the press and Queen’s church will potentially endanger the victim and witnesses. Schmidt disagrees, noting in his letter that “there are only two or three potential subjects of this investigation, and each of them are very aware that they are potential subjects.” Schmidt further pointed out that a local police department arrested the alleged student perpetrator.
BNG previously reported that Christian Flores, around whom this case revolves, remains the subject of an investigation by the Burleson, Texas, Police Department and Johnson County District Attorney, although the case remains unindicted.
Sam A. Schmidt
“It’s our opinion that the government is just way over the top on their allegations,” Schmidt told BNG.
Court transcripts previously obtained by BNG indicate Schmidt was seeking a proffer agreement with the government on behalf of Queen or considering filing motions to suppress evidence or make motions to dismiss the case outright.
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 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.
In his interview with BNG, Schmidt indicated that suppression and dismissal motions still are not entirely off the table.
“We are still considering it because there are some issues that might work under a motion to dismiss,” he said. However, he did not offer details on allegations of prosecutorial misconduct, procedural issues during discovery or civil rights violations.
Proffer agreements, however, no longer are a possibility, he said.
Schmidt alleges Queen fully cooperated with the government before being charged “with a crime that we believe he did not commit.” He told BNG the government would only view Queen as cooperative if he pled guilty — something Queen was unwilling to do, although he stands “willing and ready to answer their questions.”
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