BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Birmingham Board of Education President Edward Maddox listed a Trussville house as his primary residence on a document that lawyer U.W. Clemon read during a hearing in Jefferson County Circuit Court this morning.

Clemon was questioning Maddox in a hearing on a case involving the school board's attempted firing of Superintendent Craig Witherspoon, as well as the state Department of Education's takeover of the city school system.

Maddox owns houses in Trussville and in Birmingham's Woodlawn community. During testimony this morning, Clemon, who represents Witherspoon, asked Maddox where he lived, to which Maddox replied that he lives in Birmingham and Trussville.

Tom Stewart, a lawyer for the Birmingham board, objected to the line of questioning, saying it was irrelevant to the case. Judge Houston Brown overruled him and allowed Clemon to continue.

Maddox testified that he and his wife have been separated for eight years, although he acknowledged that she accompanied him to the beach recently for an Alabama Association of School Boards conference.

He testified that a renter lives in part of the Woodlawn house, but that he also lives there himself, and that he claims his homestead exemption there.