abuse gave him more tolerance for the substances than an average person would have, so he had a greater ability to function under the influence.
Skinner also suggested that Donnell was the murderer. Skinner presented evidence that Donnell was violent and hot-tempered. On the night of the murder, he was seen drunkenly harassing Twila at the party, and Mitchell claimed that Donnell had "a certain kind of hate" in his eyes. Mitchell also reported that when he returned to the party after driving Twila home, Donnell was no longer there. The defense, however, introduced no physical evidence indicating that anyone besides Skinner and the victims had been in the house at the time of the murder.[2]

II.
Skinner was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death, and the conviction wasthe blood spatter report, we grant a COA on this issue.

E.
Skinner reasons that counsel should have further investigated Donnell, whom they presented as an alternative suspect, and should have called further witnesses supporting the defense theory that Donnell was the real killer. At trial, counsel called witnesses Howard Mitchell, Sara Mitchell, and Sherry Baker to testify about Donnell. That testimony established that Donnell was violent and quick-tempered, that Donnell and Twila did not always get along, that Donnell had harassed Twila at Howard Mitchell's party, that Donnell had left the party before Mitchell returned from taking Twila home, and that Donnell had previously sexually assaulted Baker.
At his hearing in federal district court, Skinner called three additional witnesses, James Hayes, Vicki Broadstreet, and Debra Ellis. The district court held