Lang, Donald

Born deaf and poor; did not acquire any language, let alone education. In the early 1970s, was accused twice of murdering Chicago prostitutes, but trials were never completed due to his inability to understand the charges against him. Was defended in court by deaf lawyer Lowell J. Myers (q.v.). Placed in state custody to learn sign language so he could finally get a proper trial; as of the mid-1990s, he apparently still had not learned usable sign language and remained in prison. His story was told by Ernest Tidyman in Dummy (1974), also made into a 1979 TV movie of the same title, starring LeVar Burton.