Commonwealth v. DiPadova, 460 Mass. 424

Defendant Dipadova was convicted of first-degree murder for stabbing Nancy Carignan in her Lowell home in July 2004.
Defendant lived with Carignan briefly; by the time of the murder he was living nearby with his mother and had a history of serious mental illness.
Defendant claimed that auditory hallucinations and dissociation rendered him unable to understand or conform to the law at the time of the murder.
Evidence showed extensive drug use (alcohol, marijuana, cocaine) and alleged interaction between drug use and mental illness affecting behavior around the time of the killing.
Expert testimony split: defense (McHoul-based) argued lack of substantial capacity due to mental disease/defect; prosecution argued defendant was criminally responsible.
The trial court instructed on criminal responsibility with a model instruction and a controversial clause about drug use activating mental illness; the autopsy was testified to by a substitute medical examiner.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether jury instruction on criminal responsibility was proper	Dipadova argues instruction misled on drug-mental illness interaction.	Berry guidance required clarified knowledge requirement; instruction was flawed.	Instruction flawed; reversal required
Whether substitute medical examiner's autopsy testimony violated confrontation rights	Admission through substitute violated confrontation clause.	Nardi controls; error raised on appeal would affect retrial.	Remand for new trial makes issue moot here

Commonwealth v. McHoul, 352 Mass. 544 (Mass. 1967) (McHoul standard for lack of criminal responsibility)
Commonwealth v. Berry, 457 Mass. 602 (Mass. 2010) (instruction on intoxication and mental disease; knowledge requirement)
Commonwealth v. Brennan, 399 Mass. 358 (Mass. 1987) (alcohol activation of illness; knowledge of effects)
Commonwealth v. Angelone, 413 Mass. 82 (Mass. 1992) (activation-like interaction between substances and mental state)
Commonwealth v. Herd, 413 Mass. 834 (Mass. 1992) (defendant need not know illness; intoxication caused violence)
Commonwealth v. Shelley, 381 Mass. 340 (Mass. 1980) (drug or alcohol use and dissociative states)
Commonwealth v. Sheehan, 376 Mass. 765 (Mass. 1978) (intoxication not itself mental disease)
Commonwealth v. Nardi, 452 Mass. 379 (Mass. 2008) ( confrontation rights when autopsy expert testifies)
Commonwealth v. Durand, 457 Mass. 574 (Mass. 2010) (alternative approach when autopsy photographs or substitute examiner used)
Commonwealth v. Wright, 411 Mass. 678 (Mass. 1992) (substantial likelihood of miscarriage of justice standard)