Full opinion text
OPINION RENDELL, Circuit Judge. James Dennis has spent almost twenty-four years unsuccessfully challenging his conviction for the murder of Chedell Williams. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court repeatedly affirmed Dennis’s first-degree murder conviction and sentence and denied his applications for post-conviction relief. Thereafter, Dennis filed an application under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, and the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania granted Dennis habeas corpus relief, concluding that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court had unreasonably applied Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963), with respect to three pieces of evidence suppressed by the Commonwealth. The suppressed Brady material — a receipt corroborating Dennis’s alibi, an inconsistent statement by the Commonwealth’s key eyewitness, and documents indicating that another individual committed the murder — effectively gutted the Commonwealth’s case against Dennis. The withholding of these pieces of evidence denied Dennis a fair trial in state court. We will therefore affirm the District Court’s grant of habeas relief based on his Brady claims. I. Background A. Factual Background On October 22, 1991, Chedell Williams and Zahra Howard, students at Olney High School, climbed the steps of the Fern Rock SEPTA station, located in North Philadelphia. Two men approached the girls and demanded “give me your fucking earrings.” App. 465. The girls fled down the steps; Howard ran to a nearby fruit vendor’s stand and Williams ran into the intersection at Tenth and Nedro Streets. The men followed Williams. The perpetrators tore Williams’s gold earrings from her earlobes. One of the men grabbed her, held a silver handgun to her neck, and shot her. The men then ran up the street to a waiting getaway car and fled the scene. The precise time of injury was 1:54 p.m. Emergency personnel responded within minutes, but Williams was pronounced dead at the hospital less than an hour later. B. Police Investigation and the Trial The police undertook an investigation into the Williams murder, primarily aimed at determining the identity of the shooter. Frank Jastrzembski led a team of detectives who pursued the investigation based on rumors that “Jimmy” Dennis from the Abbottsford Homes projects in East Falls committed the crime, despite being unable to identify the source of the rumors. Resting on tips by neighbors from the projects, police proceeded with Dennis as the primary, if not the sole, suspect. Detectives obtained eyewitness reports and identifications, very few of which aligned with Dennis’s appearance. Nearly all of the eyewitnesses who gave height estimates of the shooter described him as between 5'9" and 5'10". He was described as having a dark complexion and weighing about 170 to 180 pounds. The victim, Williams, had a similar build as the shooter; she was 5'10" and weighed 150 pounds. Dennis, on the other hand, is 5'5" tall and weighed between 125 and 132 pounds at the time of trial. Prior to trial, three eyewitnesses identified Dennis in a photo array, at an in-person lineup, and at a preliminary hearing: Williams’s friend, Zahra Howard; a man working on a garage near the intersection, Thomas Bertha; and a SEPTA employee who was standing in front of the station at the time of the murder, James Cameron. Zahra Howard • Photo Array: Howard identified Dennis, saying “this one looks like the guy, but I can’t be sure ... He looks a little like the guy that shot Chedell.” App. 1537. When asked if she could be sure, she replied “No.” Id. • Lineup: Howard indicated that she “thought” Dennis was the shooter. App. 586. • Preliminary Hearing and Trial: Howard testified at trial that she had identified Dennis as the shooter at a preliminary hearing. App. 474-75. She also made an in-court identification during trial. Id. Thomas Bertha • Photo Array: Bertha initially said that the first photo, which was a photo of Dennis, looked like the man running with the gun and later confirmed his identification. • Lineup: When asked to identify the shooter, Bertha simply stated “three,” which was Dennis. App. 586. • Trial: Bertha identified Dennis as the shooter at trial. James Cameron • Photo Array: Cameron said that Dennis looked like the shooter, but wavered “I can’t be sure.” App. 1548. • Lineup: Cameron identified Dennis, who was in the third position in the lineup, by simply stating “number three” without reservation. App. 689. • Preliminary Hearing and Trial: At trial, Cameron identified Dennis as the shooter and confirmed that he had identified Dennis at the preliminary hearing. At trial, the prosecutor introduced testimony from detectives who verified that Howard, Bertha, and Cameron each identified Dennis in the photo array and lineup. No other eyewitness identifications were referenced. Dennis was arrested on November 22, 1991. His signed statement indicated that he stayed at his father’s house until about 1:30 p.m. on the day in question, when his father drove him to the bus stop and watched him get on the “K” bus toward Abbottsford Homes to attend singing practice that evening. Dennis rode the K bus for approximately thirty minutes to the intersection of Henry and Midvale Avenues. During the trip, Dennis saw Latanya Cason, a woman he knew from Abbotts-ford Homes. In his statement to police, which was read into the record at trial, Dennis asserted that when he and Cason disembarked the bus “[he] waved to her.” App. 710. After getting off the bus, Dennis walked to Abbottsford Homes, where he spent the rest of the day with his friends. Dennis’s father, James Murray, corroborated Dennis’s story. He stated that they spent the morning together, and that he drove Dennis to the bus stop shortly before 2:00 p.m. to catch the K bus to Ab-bottsford Homes: The Commonwealth’s case rested primarily on eyewitness testimony, which Assistant District Attorney Roger King emphasized in his opening statement to the jury. Though ADA King acknowledged that the Commonwealth had no physical evidence — the silver handgun and the earrings were never recovered — he contended that the eyewitness identifications were sufficient for a conviction. Three eyewitnesses were called to testify at trial: Zahra Howard, Thomas Bertha, and James Cameron. Zahra Howard, who was present with the victim at the time of the murder, led the Commonwealth’s case. She recounted what had occurred, noting that the shooter was “right in front of’ her and Williams, about one or two feet away, and that she looked the shooter in the face. App. 467-68. About ten seconds passed between the first time she saw the men until she turned around and ran away from the scene; she also saw the shooter for about five to ten seconds while he was grabbing Williams in the street. Howard identified Dennis in a photo array, at an in-person lineup, and at a preliminary hearing. Defense counsel focused his cross-examination on her hesitation in prior identifications. Howard described the shooter as wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and a red sweat suit. In her statement, Howard said that the shooter was about same height as Detective Danks, who was 55'9" or 5'10", or taller. Howard testified at trial that she had never seen the shooter or his accomplice before in her life. Thomas Bertha and his partner, Anthony Overstreet, were installing stones on a garage near Tenth and Nedro Streets on the day in question. After hearing the gunshot, they came down from their ladders and looked down the street from the sidewalk. The two perpetrators ran past them. The shooter passed between three to eight feet in front of Bertha, and Bertha ran after him. Bertha made visual contact with the shooter, who was running toward him, for about three to four seconds. Defense counsel impeached Bertha by recalling that, at the preliminary hearing, Bertha testified that he could not have seen the shooter for longer than about a second. Bertha viewed the photo array and attended the lineup, identifying Dennis at both. He described the shooter as wearing red sweat pants, a red hooded sweatshirt, a black cap, and a leather jacket. Bertha testified at trial that he remembered telling the police that the shooter was 5'9" and 180 pounds. James Cameron was working as a SEPTA cashier on the day of the murder. He was about eight to ten feet from Williams when she was shot and saw the shooter for a few seconds. Cameron saw the shooter’s face several times but acknowledged that he “didn’t really pay attention.” App. 664. He testified at trial that he saw the shooter for about thirty to forty seconds collectively. This .estimate contradicted Cameron’s prior testimony at the preliminary hearing where he claimed that about twenty seconds passed between when he first saw the shooter and when the shooter ran away. Cameron viewed the array, attended the lineup, and testified at the preliminary hearing, identifying Dennis at each instance, as well as at trial. Cameron stated that Dennis looked like the shooter, “especially from the side.” App. 676. He described the shooter as wearing a red sweat suit and a dark jacket, carrying a small silver revolver. He did not remember giving detectives a specific height and weight description, but remembered telling them that the shooter was “stocky.” App. 664. Aside from eyewitness testimony, the Commonwealth presented testimony from Charles “Pop” Thompson and Latanya Ca-son, who spoke about their interactions with Dennis on October 22, 1991, the day of the murder. Thompson was in Dennis’s singing group, which held rehearsal at Ab-bottsford Homes that day. Thompson did not remember what Dennis was wearing, but told detectives that he saw Dennis with a gun that night. He also identified an illustrative .32 chrome revolver, which had been admitted as a Commonwealth exhibit, as being similar to the one he saw in Dennis’s possession. Thompson had an open drug possession charge at the time of trial, but testified that he was not expecting any help from the Commonwealth with the drug charge in exchange for his testimony. Three years after trial, Thompson attested in a statement that he had never seen Dennis with a gun and that his testimony at trial was false. Latanya Cason, who knew Dennis “by living up [her] way” at Abbottsford Homes, testified that she saw him between 4:00 and.4:30 p.m. at Henry and Midvale Avenues on October 22, 1991. App. 731. Cason’s estimate that she saw Dennis between 4:00 and 4:30 p.m. was “strictly a guess” on her part — she did not know exactly what time she saw Dennis — but there was no question she saw him that day. App. 745. Prior to seeing Dennis, Cason took public transportation to the 3-2 center where she picked up her public assistance check, signing a document to confirm pick up. She then filled her daughter’s prescription, got some fish, ran a few additional errands, and went home via the K bus. Cason testified at trial that she did not see Dennis at 2:00 p.m. that day because she was just leaving work at 2:00 p.m. Although the Commonwealth introduced a schedule of payment and food stamps at trial, which stated that Cason was slated to pick up her public assistance check and food stamps on October 22, 1991, nothing was introduced at trial indi-eating the precise time of day she retrieved her benefits. Detective Jastrzembski executed a search warrant of Dennis’s father’s home and seized two black jackets, a pair of red pants, and a pair of white sneakers. The police lost the items prior to trial. Detectives and two experts testified at trial about physical aspects of the crime, but the Commonwealth did not introduce any physical evidence at trial. Dennis’s defense strategy centered on his alibi, good character, and mistaken identity. His defense comprised of testimony by his father, James Murray, Dennis himself, a few members of his singing group, and character witnesses. Dennis did not have evidence to support an “other suspect” defense. Dennis’s father testified that the two of them were together from the evening of October 21, 1991, until about 1:50 p.m. on October 22, 1991. Murray lives about fifteen to eighteen blocks from the Fern Rock Station, roughly a five-minute drive with traffic. Murray testified that “[he] kn[ew] for a fact that [Dennis] was on [the K bus]” at the time of Williams’s murder because he drove Dennis to the stop and watched from his car as Dennis boarded the bus. App. 804. The Commonwealth pointed out that Murray had visited Dennis forty times since his arrest. Willis Meredith, James Smith, and Marc Nelson, members of Dennis’s singing group who had known Dennis for ten years or more, testified on Dennis’s behalf about rehearsal on the day of the murder. Meredith saw Dennis for about twenty minutes around 2:15 or 2:30 p.m., which aligned with Dennis’s account. Smith testified that Dennis was dressed in dark sweats and a dark hooded shirt at rehearsal that night — he was not wearing any red. Meredith, Smith, and Nelson each testified that Thompson and Dennis frequently got into arguments. Each testified that they had not seen a handgun in Dennis’s possession. Other defense witnesses, including Dennis’s brothers, friends, and church leaders, testified to Dennis’s reputation for being honest, truthful, peaceful, and law-abiding. Finally, Dennis took the stand. He testified that he had nothing to do. with Williams’s shooting and was not in the area at the time of her murder. In line with his father’s testimony, Dennis said he spent the previous night at his father’s house and left at 1:30 or 1:45 p.m. to take the bus to Abbottsford Homes for singing practice. When Dennis left his father’s house, he was wearing a dark blue jeans set; he changed into black sweats at Merri-weather’s house before rehearsal. Dennis testified that he took the K bus, where he “thought” he saw Tammy Cason, to Henry and Midvale Avenues in East Falls, arriving around 2:30 p.m. App. 1028. Dennis then went to Willis Meredith’s house for twenty to thirty minutes. Dennis acknowledged getting into frequent arguments with Thompson about Thompson’s desire to be the leader of the singing group. Counsels’ closings reiterated the trial’s themes — eyewitness identifications and Dennis’s alibi. Defense counsel pointed to eyewitness identifications as the key question in the Commonwealth’s case, but he had no means, of impeaching Howard, the eyewitness with the closest view of the shooter. Defense counsel highlighted Thompson’s motive to lie, but Thompson’s testimony did not directly link Dennis to Williams’s murder. Finally, defense counsel had to backtrack from using Cason to bolster Dennis’s timeline due to the timing discrepancy between her version — that they saw one another between 4:00 and 4:30 — and Dennis’s account that he saw Cason at 2:30. In his closing statement to the jury, counsel urged that Dennis had not, in fact, seen Cason on the bus to detract from the inconsistency. ADA King similarly saw Howard as the key witness at trial and instructed the jury that “if you believe Zahra Howard, that’s enough to convict James Dennis.” App. 1207. King attacked Dennis’s testimony that he saw Tammy Cason on the K bus as incredible, and undercut Dennis’s father’s testimony by urging that “blood is thicker than water,” leaving no disinterested witnesses to support Dennis’s account. App. 1208-09. The jury found Dennis guilty of first-degree murder, robbery, carrying a firearm without a license, criminal conspiracy, and possession of an instrument of a crime. It found Dennis’s lack of significant criminal history a mitigating factor during the penalty phase, but it also found that the killing was committed in the course of a felony, amounting to an aggravating circumstance. The jury sentenced Dennis to death. C. Undisclosed Evidence The prosecution failed to disclose to Dennis’s counsel three pieces of exculpatory and impeachment evidence: (1) a receipt revealing the time that Cason had picked up her welfare benefits, several hours before the time she had testified to at trial, thus corroborating Dennis’s alibi (the “Ca-son receipt”); (2) a police activity sheet memorializing that Howard had given a previous statement inconsistent with her testimony at trial, which provided both invaluable material to discredit the Commonwealth’s key eyewitness and evidence that someone else committed the murder (the “Howard police activity sheet”); and (3) documents regarding a tip from an inmate detailing his conversation with a man other than Dennis who identified himself as the victim’s killer (the “Frazier documents”). . 1. Cason receipt Detectives interviewed ■ Latanya Cason, the woman identified in Dennis’s initial statement, at Abbottsford Homes a few months after Dennis’s arrest. Cason told detectives that she. thought she remembered seeing Dennis the day of the murder, but her timeline contradicted the one Dennis outlined. She said that she worked until 2:00 p.m., went to the 3-2 center to pick up her public assistance check, picked up a prescription and some fish, boarded the K bus, and got off near Abbottsford Homes. According to Cason, she saw Dennis when she got off the K bus between 4:00 and 4:30. p.m., not between 2:00 and 2:30 p.m. as Dennis indicated. The only discrepancy between Dennis’s testimony and Cason’s was the time of their interaction. Police records indicate that Cason gave detectives a Department of Public Welfare (“DPW”) card marked “Schedule of check payment” at the time of her interview, which was introduced at trial. However, the Commonwealth' possessed another DPW document not disclosed at trial — a receipt bearing the time Cason picked up her check. Cason testified at trial as a witness for the prosecution and her testimony aligned with her initial statement to detectives. On appeal, Dennis’s new appellate counsel obtained Cason’s time-stamped receipt from the DPW. Cason stated in an affidavit that police had a copy of the timestamped receipt when they interviewed her and that she gave police her only copy of the receipt. The receipt indicated that Cason picked up her welfare check at 13:03, or 1:03 p.m. In complete contradiction to her trial testimony, then, Cason could not have been working until 2:00 p.m. that day. Cason attributed her prior incorrect testimony to misunderstanding military time, so that she “may have thought that the 13:03, which is on the receipt, was 3:03 p.m.” App. 1736. Based on the discrete time indicated on the receipt, Cason’s affidavit stated she would have seen Dennis “between 2:00 and 2:30 p.m. at the Abbottsford Homes, and hot 4:00 to 4:30 that is in my statement.” Id. 2. Howard police activity sheet Two days after the murder, detectives interviewed Diane and Mannasett Pugh, Williams’s aunt and uncle. Diane Pugh told detectives that, the night after the murder, Zahra Howard told them that she recognized the assailants from Olney High School, where she and Williams were students. Dennis did not attend Olney High School. Howard’s assertion that she recognized the assailants from school contradicted her prior statements to police that she had never seen the men before and did not recognize them from school. Police recorded in their “THINGS TO DO” list that they planned to interview Howard about her inconsistent statements. Howard further told the Pughs that two people named “Kim” and “Quinton” had also been present at the murder. The following day, another of Williams’s aunts, Elaine Parker, told police that Howard mentioned Kim and Quinton were at the scene. The Commonwealth disclosed Parker’s statement prior to trial. However, the prosecution did not disclose information about Howard’s inconsistent statement to the Pughs. Mere hours after meeting with Parker and receiving additional information that Howard had omitted or misstated facts in her initial statement to police, two detectives met with Howard, ostensibly to follow up on their “things to do.” Ignoring their recorded intentions, however, the detectives only questioned Howard about a photo array and did not inquire about the inconsistent statements. S. Frazier documents Prior to Dennis’s arrest, Philadelphia detectives received a call from Montgomery County police relaying a tip from an inmate at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility, William Frazier. Frazier told Montgomery County detectives that he spoke with the man who may have murdered Williams during a three-way call with Frazier’s friend, Tony Brown, facilitated by Frazier’s aunt. During the call, Brown told Frazier and Frazier’s aunt that he “fucked up” and murdered Williams when the gun went off accidentally during a botched robbery of her earrings. App. 1692. He also said that two other men, Ricky Walker and “Skeet,” aided in committing the crime. Frazier told detectives that Brown had a brown car, that he “like[d] to wear sweat suits,” and that the men knew the victim as “Kev[’s] ... girl.” App. 1694-95. Frazier told police that Brown and the others had hid in Frazier’s empty apartment for two days following the murder. Frazier provided addresses for the men, including their parents’ and girlfriends’ addresses, an address and phone number for his aunt, and an address for the pawn shop Brown frequented. Frazier volunteered to take detectives on a “ride along” to point out the houses and pawn shop. Following the tip, Detectives Santiago and Jastrzembski interviewed Walker, who admitted to knowing Williams from Olney High School, but denied knowing Brown or Skeet. Walker denied any involvement in the murder, and claimed that his mother could verify that he was sleeping when Williams was murdered. Walker admitted to hanging out around Broad and Olney, the exact area where Overstreet said he had seen the perpetrator before. Detectives never verified Walker’s alibi nor showed his photo to any of the eyewitnesses. Detectives never located Brown or Skeet. Detectives, including Jastrzembski, spoke with Frazier’s landlord, who had no knowledge of anyone entering Frazier’s apartment. Detectives did not interview Frazier’s aunt to obtain her account of the call with Brown. The Commonwealth suppressed at least six documents relating to the Frazier tip from Dennis’s trial counsel: (1) Frazier’s initial statement to the Montgomery County police (Oct 31, 1991); (2) Frazier’s statement to the Philadelphia police (Nov. 1, 1991); (3) Police Activity Sheet regarding Frazier’s landlord (Nov. 1, 1991); (4) Police Activity Sheet regarding Ricky Walker (Nov. 2, 1991); (5) Frazier’s signed search consent; and (6) Ricky Walker’s statement (Nov. 2, 1991). The Commonwealth concedes that these documents were not disclosed to Dennis until a decade after trial. D. Review of State Court Conviction Like many habeas cases, this case has a lengthy procedural history. Only those decisions and arguments relevant to the instant appeal aré summarized below. On July 22, 1998, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirmed Dennis’s conviction and death sentence on direct appeal by a vote of four to three. Commonwealth v. Dennis, 552 Pa. 331, 715 A.2d 404 (1998) (“Dennis /”). Dennis argued on direct appeal that the Commonwealth violated his due process rights by failing to disclose Cason’s time-stamped receipt prior to trial, in opposition to Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963). On September 15, 1998, Dennis filed a timely pro se petition pursuant to Pennsylvania’s • Post Conviction Relief Act (“PCRA”), received new counsel, and also received discovery. In December 1999, PCRA counsel was appointed and filed an amended petition, and, subsequently,' a supplemental amended petition and a second supplemental petition on December 1, 2000, and July 10, 2002, respectively. Two pieces of evidence at issue in this appeal were disclosed during PCRA discovery. First, Dennis received the police activity sheet memorializing Howard’s statements to Diane Pugh the night after the murder, which indicated that she recognized the shooter from Olney High School. Second, Dennis received the six documents relating to the Frazier lead that police had abandoned. The PCRA court denied Dennis’s claims that the prosecution violated Brady by failing to disclose the Howard statement and the Frazier documents. Dennis again appealed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirmed the PCRA court in part and vacated in part, and remanded two claims. Commonwealth v. Dennis, 597 Pa. 159, 950 A.2d 945 (2008) (‘Dennis III”). The court found that the Commonwealth’s failure to disclose the Frazier documents did not violate Brady because the prosecution was not required to disclosé “every fruitless lead” and that “inadmissible evidence cannot be the basis for a Brady violation.” Id. at 968 (internal quotation marks omitted) (quoting Commonwealth v. Lambert, 584 Pa. 461, 884 A.2d 848, 857 (2005)). The Pennsylvania Supreme Court remanded to the PCRA court Dennis’s claim that the Commonwealth violated Brady by suppressing the contents of the police activity sheet memorializing Zahra Howard’s inconsistent statement. After evidentiary hearings on remand, the PCRA court again dismissed Dennis’s petition. Commonwealth v. Dennis, Case No. 92-01-0484, slip op. (Pa. Ct. Com. PL Mar. 17, 2010). The Pennsylvania Supreme Court concluded that it was not relevant that Howard denied her prior inconsistent statement at the evidentiary hearing before the PCRA court. See, e.g., Commonwealth v. Dennis, 609 Pa. 442, 17 A.3d 297, 309 (2011) (“Dennis /V”). The Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirmed the PCRA denial on appeal. Id. It concluded that the police activity sheet was not material under Brady because “Howard was extensively cross-examined” and because “there were two eyewitnesses other than Howard who observed the shooting ■ at close range ... [and] positively identified [Dennis] as the shooter in a photo array, in a line up, and at trial.” Id. Following the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling, Dennis filed a habeas corpus petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for review of his conviction and death sentence. The District Court granted Dennis habeas relief based on Dennis’s Brady claims as to the Commonwealth’s failure to disclose the Cason receipt, the Frazier documents, and the police activity sheet containing Howard’s inconsistent statement. Dennis V, 966 F.Supp.2d at 518. The District Court concluded that the state court’s ruling regarding the Cason receipt involved an unreasonable determination of the facts. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court had concluded that the receipt was not exculpatory because (1) “[Cason’s] testimony would not support Appellant’s alibi”; (2) it would have been cumulative of testimony by another witness; and (3) there was no evidence that the Commonwealth withheld the receipt from the defense. Dennis I, 715 A.2d at 408. The District Court determined that the receipt corroborated Dennis’s alibi, provided direct evidence that Cason’s testimony was false, and would have been strong impeachment evidence. Therefore, the state court’s determination that the receipt was not “exculpatory” was an unreasonable determination of the facts. Dennis V, 966 F.Supp.2d at 508. The District Court also concluded the Pennsylvania Supreme Court had engaged in a similarly unreasonable determination of facts regarding whether the receipt was actually suppressed by the police. In its opinion, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court stated that the police came into possession of the receipt when interviewing Cason, and that the Commonwealth never claimed to have disclosed the receipt to defense counsel. The District Court relied on Kyles v. Whitley, 514 U.S. 419, 437, 115 S.Ct. 1555, 131 L.Ed.2d 490 (1995), for the proposition that favorable evidence in the police’s possession is imputed to the prosecution. Dennis V, 966 F.Supp.2d at 509-10. It also interpreted the three-factor balancing test in United States v. Pelullo, 399 F.3d 197 (3d Cir. 2005), to come out in favor of required disclosure by the Commonwealth. Further, the state court’s conclusion that the receipt was not material was an unreasonable application of clearly established federal law because the “receipt and Ca-son’s accompanying corrected testimony would have provided independent, disinterested corroboration of Dennis’[s] explanation for where he was at the time of Williams’[s] murder,” would have transformed Cason from a government witness into a defense witness who supported Dennis’s alibi, and would have provided impeachment evidence to challenge Cason’s testimony that she had worked until 2:00 p.m. that day, which otherwise could not have been challenged. Dennis V, 966 F.Supp.2d at 511. The District Court also granted habeas relief on the basis of Dennis’s Brady claim regarding the Frazier documents, concluding that the state court had adopted an unreasonably narrow reading of Brady. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court had held that the prosecution did not violate Brady by failing to disclose the Frazier documents because Dennis did not show that the documents were admissible and material. The District Court rejected the assertion that inadmissible evidence cannot be the basis of a Brady claim, reasoning that the United States Supreme Court has never stated such a rule and that most circuit courts, including the Third Circuit, have held to the contrary. Id. at 503. Additionally, that the United States Supreme Court proceeded with the Brady analysis after acknowledging that the polygraph results at issue in Wood v. Bartholomew, 516 U.S. 1, 116 S.Ct. 7, 133 L.Ed.2d 1 (1995), were not admissible indicated to the District Court that there is no admissibility requirement for Brady evidence. Dennis V, 966 F.Supp.2d at 503. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court had also held that the prosecution need not disclose every “fruitless lead” in order to comply with Brady. The District Court determined that this conclusion was unreasonable under Kyles. The Frazier documents contained “internal markers of credibility,” such as a description of the victim as “Kev[’s] ... girl,” which was accurate, an admission to shooting the victim in the correct location on her body, and a description of the alleged perpetrators that matched other descriptions of the shooter more closely than Dennis did. Id. at 504. The District Court reasoned that the Frazier documents would have led to further investigation that could have proved vital to the defense and could have been used to impeach the police investigation or provide a defense that another person committed the murder. Id. at 505. Lastly, the District Court granted habe-as relief on the basis of Dennis’s claim that the Commonwealth violated Brady when it withheld the police activity sheet containing Howard’s inconsistent statements. The District Court concluded that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court had unreasonably applied Brady and its progeny in rejecting the Howard Brady claim. First, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court had unreasonably dismissed the impeachment value of the evidence and incorrectly concluded that cross-examination of Howard rendered new impeachment evidence immaterial. The District Court noted that the United States Supreme Court has directly rejected the notion that there can be no Brady claim relating to impeachment evidence where a witness was already impeached with other information. See Banks v. Dretke, 540 U.S. 668, 702, 124 S.Ct. 1256, 157 L.Ed.2d 1166 (2004) (rejecting the state’s argument that no Brady violation occurred because the witness was “heavily impeached at trial,” where the withheld evidence was the only impeachment evidence that the witness was a paid informant). The District Court emphasized that, although Howard was cross-examined at trial, she was not impeached. Dennis V, 966 F.Supp.2d at 514-15. Second, the District Court concluded that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court had incorrectly applied a sufficiency of the evidence test in direct contravention of Kyles’ s directive that Brady material be viewed in light of all of the evidence. Rather, the state court should have focused on whether the defendant received a fair trial in the absence of the disclosed evidence. Id. at 516. Finally, the District Court found it unreasonable that the state court had failed to consider the effect of the evidence on trial counsel’s investigation, pretrial preparation, decision to interview or call certain witnesses, or the effect of cross-examining detectives on their investigation into Howard. Given that the police themselves thought it was important to follow up with Howard about her possible statements to Pugh, the District Court concluded it was clear that the lead was material from an investigatory point of view. Id. The District Court also concluded that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court had failed to undertake a cumulative materiality analysis as required by Kyles. Id. at 517-18. It did not rule on Dennis’s remaining claims. Id. at 491, 501 n.19 & 510 n.27. The Commonwealth filed a timely notice of appeal. A panel of this Court issued an opinion on February 9, 2015. Dennis v. Sec’y, Pa. Dep’t of Corr., 777 F.3d 642 (3d Cir. 2015). This opinion was vacated and rehearing en bane was granted on May 6, 2015. II. Jurisdiction and Standard of Review The District Court had jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §§ 2241, and 2254 over Dennis’s habeas corpus petition. This Court has appellate jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C §§ 1291 and 2253. The District Court based its decision on a review of the state court record and did not conduct an evidentiary hearing, so our review of its order is plenary and we apply the same standard the District Court applied. Branch v. Sweeney, 758 F.3d 226, 232 (3d Cir. 2014); Brown v. Wenerowicz, 663 F.3d 619, 627 (3d Cir. 2011). The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) dictates the manner in which we conduct our review. Federal habeas courts cannot grant relief “with respect to any claim that was adjudicated on the merits in State court” unless the adjudication (1) “resulted in a decision that was contrary to, or involved an unreasonable application of, clearly established Federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court of the United States”; or (2) “resulted in a decision that was based on an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the evidence presented in the State court proceeding.” 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d). Under § 2254(d)(1), “clearly established federal law” means “the governing legal principle or principles set forth by the Supreme Court at the time the state court renders its decision.” Lockyer v. Andrade, 538 U.S. 63, 71-72, 123 S.Ct. 1166, 155 L.Ed.2d 144 (2003). It “refers to the holdings, as opposed to the dicta, of [the Supreme Court’s] decisions as of the time of the relevant state-court decision.” Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362, 412, 120 S.Ct. 1495, 146 L.Ed.2d 389 (2000). AED-PA allows federal courts to grant habeas relief only if the state court decision is contrary to, or an unreasonable application of, clearly established federal law. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(1). . A state court decision is “contrary to” clearly established federal law if the state court (1) “applies a rule that contradicts the governing law” set forth in Supreme Court precedent or (2) “confronts a set of facts that are materially indistinguishable from a decision of [the Supreme] Court and nevertheless arrives at a result different” from that reached by the Supreme Court. Williams, 529 U.S. at 405-06, 120 S.Ct. 1495. Interpreting Supreme Court precedent in a manner that adds an additional element to the legal standard for proving a constitutional violation is “contrary to” clearly established federal law. Id. at 393-94, 397, 120 S.Ct. 1495 (reasoning that the Virginia Supreme Court’s interpretation of Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984), which increased the burden on petitioners, was “contrary to” Supreme Court precedent). A state court decision is an “unreasonable application of federal law” if the state court “identifies the correct governing legal principle,” but “unreasonably applies that principle to the facts of the prisoner’s case.” Id. at 413, 120 S.Ct. 1495. A strong case for habeas relief “does not mean the state court’s contrary conclusion was unreasonable.” Harrington v. Richter, 562 U.S. 86, 102, 131 S.Ct. 770, 178 L.Ed.2d 624 (2011). Habeas relief may not be granted on the basis that the state court applied clearly established law incorrectly; rather, the inquiry is “whether the state court’s application of clearly established federal law was objectively unreasonable.” Williams, 529 U.S. at 409, 120 S.Ct. 1495 (emphasis added). A rule’s unreasonable application corresponds to the specificity of the rule itself: “[t]he more general the rule, the more leeway courts have in reaching outcomes in case-by-case determinations.” Richter, 562 U.S. at 101, 131 S.Ct. 770 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). “A state court’s determination that a claim lacks merit precludes federal habeas relief so long as fairminded jurists could disagree on the correctness of the state court’s decision.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). Finally, under 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(2), a state court decision is based on an “unreasonable determination of the facts” if the state court’s factual findings are “objectively unreasonable in light of the evidence presented in the state-court proceeding,” which requires review of whether there was sufficient evidence to support the state court’s factual findings. See Miller-El v. Cockrell, 537 U.S. 322, 340, 123 S.Ct. 1029, 154 L.Ed.2d 931 (2003). Determinations of factual issues made by state courts are presumed to be correct. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(e)(1); Miller-El, 537 U.S. at 340, 123 S.Ct. 1029. However, “[d]eference does not by definition preclude relief. A federal court can disagree with a state court’s credibility determination and, when guided by AEDPA, conclude the decision was unreasonable or that the factual premise was incorrect by clear and convincing evidence.” Miller-El, 537 U.S. at 340, 123 S.Ct. 1029. Judges Fisher and Hardiman advance an interpretation of Richter that far exceeds its reach. Further, their approach would have the federal habeas courts “rewrite” state court opinions, as Judge Jordan’s thorough concurrence observes. We recognize that the AEDPA standard is “difficult to meet ... because it was meant to be. As amended by AEDPA, § 2254(d) stops short of imposing a complete bar on federal-court relitigation of claims already rejected in state proceedings.” Richter, 562 U.S. at 102, 131 S.Ct. 770. The highly deferential standard “reflects the view that habeas corpus is a guard against extreme malfunctions in the state criminal justice systems, not a substitute for ordinary error correction through appeal.” Id. at 102-OS, 131 S.Ct. 770 (internal quotation marks omitted). This level of deference stems from deep-rooted concerns about federalism. Williams, 529 U.S. at 406, 120 S.Ct. 1495 (noting that Congress intended to “further the principles of comity, finality, and federalism” in passing AEDPA). That said, Richter and its progeny do not support unchecked speculation by federal ha-beas courts in furtherance of AEDPA’s goals. While we must give state court decisions “the benefit of the doubt,” as Judge Fisher recognizes, federal habeas review does not entail speculating as to what other theories could have supported the state court ruling when reasoning has been provided, or buttressing a state court’s scant analysis with arguments not fairly presented to it. Make no mistake about it, the Dissents justify the state court ruling based on an argument never presented to it. No case decided by our court or the United States Supreme Court permits this approach. We now write to clarify how we interpret the Supreme Court’s jurisprudence as to when and how federal courts ought to “fill the gaps” in state court opinions on federal habeas review subject to AEDPA. The United States Supreme Court has clearly laid out the analytical path for federal habeas courts confronted with a state court opinion devoid of reasoning — i.e., a bare ruling. When a state court decision lacks reasoning, the Supreme Court instructed habeas courts to “determine what arguments or theories supported or, as here, could have supported, the state court’s decision; and then it must ask whether it is possible fairminded jurists could disagree that those arguments or theories are inconsistent with the holding in a prior decision of this Court.” Richter, 562 U.S. at 102, 131 S.Ct. 770 (emphasis added). Richter is that case. This is not. In Richter, the Court faced the question of whether AEDPA deference “applies when a state court’s order is unaccompanied by an opinion explaining the reasons relief has been denied.” Id. at 98; 131 S.Ct. 770. The United States Supreme Court admonished the Ninth Circuit’s de novo review of the California Supreme Court’s one-sentence summary denial of petitioner’s claim under Strickland, and held that state court decisions that are devoid of reasoning, i.e., a bare ruling, constitute adjudications on the merits that trigger AEDPA deference. Richter, 562 U.S. at 98, 131 S.Ct. 770 (“[T]he habeas petitioner’s burden still must be met by showing there was no reasonable basis for the state court to deny relief. This is so whether or not the state court reveals which of the elements in a multipart claim it found insufficient....”). In pther words, state courts need not articulate a statement of reasons to invoke AEDPA deference by federal habeas courts. Id. (“[Djetermining whether a state court’s decision resulted from an unreasonable legal or factual conclusion does not require that there be an opinion from the state court explaining the state court’s reasoning.”). The California Supreme Court had provided no reasoning; accordingly, in order to determine whether the state court had made a decision that was contrary to, or involved an unreasonable application of, clearly established'federal law, or an unreasonable determination of fact, the federal habeas court was required to theorize based on what was presented to the state court. We suggest that the concept of “gap filling” is fairly limited. It should be reserved for those cases in which the federal court cannot be sure of the precise basis for the state court’s ruling. It permits a federal court to defer while still exploring the possible reasons. It does not permit a federal habeas court, when faced with a reasoned determination of the state court, to fill a non-existent'“gap” by coming up with its own theory or argument, let alone one, as here, never raised to the state court. In Premo v. Moore, 562 U.S. 115, 131 S.Ct. 733, 178 L.Ed.2d 649 (2011), decided on the same day as Richter, the state court had concluded that the petitioner had not received ineffective assistance of counsel under Strickland, but did not specify on which Strickland prong — performance or prejudice — petitioner failed to meet his burden. As in Richter, the Supreme Court instructed the Ninth Circuit to assume “that both findings would have involved an unreasonable application of clearly established federal law.” 562 U.S. at 123, 131 S.Ct. 733. Unsure as to which prong formed the basis for the state court’s ruling, the federal court could fill the gap by exploring the two prongs of Strickland. In contrast, when the state court pens a clear, reasoned opinion, federal habeas courts may not speculate as to theories that “could have supported” the state court’s decision. The Supreme Court established this limitation on Richter “gap filling” in Wetzel v. Lambert, — U.S. -, 132 S.Ct. 1195, 182 L.Ed.2d 35 (2012), where it described the proper analytical path for state court decisions accompanied by reasoning: Under § 2254(d), a habeas court must determine what arguments or theories supported ... the state court’s decision; and then it must ask whether it is possible fairminded jurists could disagree that those arguments or theories are inconsistent with the holding in a prior decision of this Court. Id. at 1198 (quoting Richter, 562 U.S. at 102, 131 S.Ct. 770; alterations in original; emphasis added). This is fairly straightforward. As explained above, the Court in Richter included the language “or, as here, could have supported” when it initially instructed courts on gap filling. Courts were tasked with considering what theories “could have supported” the state court decision in cases akin to those “as here,” or, summary denials. Removing the clause “or, as here, could have supported” from the instruction when the state court provides a fully-reasoned decision removed the task of speculative gap-filling from the habeas court’s analysis. Instead, federal habeas courts reviewing reasoned state court opinions are limited to “those arguments or theories” that actually supported, as opposed to “could have supported,” the state court’s decision. The Supreme Court’s intent to limit deference to the state court to those reasons that it articulated in its opinion is further supported by the Supreme Court’s instruction that the court on remand consider whether “each ground supporting the state court decision is examined and found to be unreasonable under AEDPA.” Id. at 1199. When a state court ruling is based on a reasoned, but erroneous, analysis, federal habeas courts are empowered to engage in an alternate ground analysis— relying on any ground properly presented — but, in such a case, the federal court owes no deference to the state court. In Lafler v. Cooper, — U.S.-, 132 S.Ct. 1376, 182 L.Ed.2d 398 (2012), the state court had “simply found that respondent’s rejection of the plea was knowing and voluntary” in rejecting defendant’s ineffective counsel claim and “failed to apply Strickland, ” despite referencing the performance and prejudice prongs of Strickland in its opinion. Id. at 1390. “By failing to apply Strickland to assess the ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim respondent raised, the state court’s adjudication was contrary to clearly established federal law” and the Supreme Court analyzed the Strickland claim de novo. Id. at 1390. The Court was not filling a gap in Lafler. Instead, it was employing different analysis that was very much a part of the case, and supplied an alternate ground for concluding, on de novo review, that there was no ineffectiveness of counsel. Justices of the Supreme Court have indicated in a concurrence from the denial of a petition for certiorari that federal courts are bound to the text of state court opinions. Justice Ginsburg, joined by Justice Kagan, observed Richter s hypothetical inquiry was necessary, however, because no state court opinion explained the reasons relief had been denied. In that circumstance, a federal habeas court can assess whether the state court’s decision involved an unreasonable application of clearly established Federal law only by hypothesizing reasons that might have supported it. But Richter makes clear that where the state court’s real reasons can be ascertained, the § 2254(d) analysis can and should be based on the actual arguments or theories that supported the state court’s decision. Hittson v. Chatman, — U.S. -, 135 S.Ct. 2126, 2127-28, 192 L.Ed.2d 887, reh’g denied, — U.S. -, 136 S.Ct. 15, 192 L.Ed.2d 984 (2015) (mem.) (internal quotation marks, alterations, and citations omitted). Other courts of appeals have similarly limited Richter’s gap-filling instruction to the bare ruling situation. See Johnson v. Sec’y, DOC, 643 F.3d 907, 910 (11th Cir. 2011) (“When faced with an ineffective assistance of counsel claim that was denied on the merits by the state courts, a federal habeas court ‘must determine what arguments or theories supported or, [if none were stated], could have supported, the state court’s decision[.]” (alterations in. original) (quoting Richter, 562 U.S. at 102, 131 S.Ct. 770)); see also Grueninger v. Dir., Va. Dep’t of Corr., 813 F.3d 517, 525-26 (4th Cir. 2016) (“looking through” a state court summary refusal to hear an appeal to the prior reasoned decision and observing that “where there is no indication of the state court’s reasoning, a federal habeas petitioner must show that there was ‘no reasonable basis for the state court to deny relief,’ and a federal habeas court must defer under AEDPA to any reasonable ‘arguments or theories ... [that] could have supported!] the state court’s decision’ ” (quoting Richter, 562 U.S. at 98, 102, 131 S.Ct. 770) (internal citations omitted; alterations in original)); Montgomery v. Bobby, 654 F.3d 668, 700 (6th Cir. 2011) (Clay, J., dissenting) (“If the- state court articulated its reasons, the habeas court must identify and evaluate those reasons under § 2254(d); only if the state court did not articulate its reasons must the habeas court hypothesize as to the state court’s reasoning, and evaluate those hypothetical reasons.”). Federal courts should only gap-fill when presented with a bare ruling or when it is unsure as to the basis of the state court ruling on the issue presented. See Premo, 562 U.S. at 123, 131 S.Ct. 733 (concluding that when the state court neglected to articulate which prong of Strickland was deficient, the federal habeas court ought to evaluate both prongs of Strickland). We will not gap-fill when the state court has articulated its own clear reasoning. Instead, we will evaluate the state court’s analysis and review de novo any properly presented alternative ground(s) supporting its judgment. Dennis’s claims at issue on appeal stem from the Commonwealth’s violations of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963). Prosecutors have an affirmative duty “to disclose [Brady] evidence ... even though there has been no request [for the evidence] by the accused,” which may include evidence known only to police. Strickler v. Greene, 527 U.S. 263, 280, 119 S.Ct. 1936, 144 L.Ed.2d 286 (1999); Kyles, 514 U.S. at 438, 115 S.Ct. 1555. To comply with Brady, prosecutors must “learn of any favorable evidence known to the others acting on the government’s behalf ..., including the police.” Strickler, 527 U.S. at 281, 119 S.Ct. 1936 (internal quotation marks omitted) (quoting Kyles, 514 U.S. at 437, 115 S.Ct. 1555). To prove a Brady violation, a defendant must show the evidence at issue meets three critical elements. First, the evidence “must be favorable to the accused, either because it is exculpatory, or because it is impeaching.” Id. at 281-82, 119 S.Ct. 1936; see also United States v. Bagley, 473 U.S. 667, 676, 105 S.Ct. 3375, 87 L.Ed.2d 481 (1985) (“Impeachment evidence ..., as well as exculpatory evidence, falls within the Brady rule.”). Second, it “must have been suppressed by the State, either willfully or inadvertently.” Strickler, 527 U.S. at 282, 119 S.Ct. 1936. Third, the evidence must have been material such that prejudice resulted from its suppression. Id.; see also Banks, 540 U.S. at 691, 124 S.Ct. 1256. The “touchstone of materiality is a ‘reasonable probability’ of a different result.” Kyles, 514 U.S. at 434, 115 S.Ct. 1555. Materiality “does not require demonstration by a preponderance that disclosure of the suppressed evidence would have resulted ultimately in the defendant’s acquittal ... [Rather], [a] ■ ‘reasonable probability’ of a different result is ... shown when the government’s eviden-tiary suppression undermines confidence in the outcome of the trial.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). III. Discussion The District Court held that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court had unreasonably applied Brady and its progeny in rejecting Dennis’s claims that the prosecution was required under Brady to disclose the Ca-son receipt, the Frazier documents, and the police activity sheet containing Howard’s inconsistent statements. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued a thorough decision on each claim. We conclude, like the District Court, that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decisions regarding Dennis’s Brady claims rested on unreasonable conclusions of fact and unreasonable applications of clearly established law, or were contrary to United States Supreme Court precedent. We will affirm the District Court and grant habeas relief on Dennis’s Brady claims based on the Cason receipt, the Howard police activity sheet, the Frazier documents, and their cumulative prejudice. A. Cason Receipt 1. Facts The Commonwealth did not disclose the DPW receipt that was in the police’s possession, provided objective impeachment evidence of a key Commonwealth witness, and bolstered Dennis’s alibi. Cason signed the DPW receipt when she picked up her check on October 22, 1991, the day of Williams’s murder. The receipt’s time stamp shows Cason picked up a $94.00 payment for “public assistance” at “13:03,” or 1:03 p.m. During Dennis’s direct appeal, Cason signed an affidavit detailing her recollection of the interview she had with police prior to Dennis’s trial. According to Cason, detectives brought a copy of the time-stamped receipt to the interview, and she “located and gave the detective [her] pink copy of the same receipt. The detective kept [her] copy of the receipt.” App. 1735. The Commonwealth called Cason to testify at Dennis’s trial. She testified that she left work around 2:00 p.m., picked up her welfare check, ran errands, and saw Dennis when she got off the K bus “between 4:00 and 4:30.” App. 733. The receipt serves two functions: (1) it negates her testimony that she worked until 2:00 p.m. on October 22; and (2) it demonstrates that, contrary to Cason’s testimony at trial that she retrieved her receipt after 3:00 p.m., Cason actually picked up her check at 1:03 p.m. Cason admits in her affidavit that she “may have thought that the 13:03, which was on the receipt, was 3:03 p.m.” App. 1736. In light of the time-stamped receipt, Cason explained in her affidavit, she “would have seen [James] Dennis between 2:00 and 2:30 p.m. at the Abbotts-ford Homes, and not 4:00 to 4:30 that is in my statement.” Id. 2. State Court Decision The Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected Dennis’s Brady claim stemming from the Cason receipt. The Court found, consistent with Cason’s affidavit, that the “police came into possession of a Depart-merit of Public Welfare (DPW) receipt showing that Cason cashed her check at 1:03 p.m.” Dennis I, 715 A.2d at 408. In denying Dennis’s ineffective assistance of counsel claim, the Court held that Cason’s new version of events “would not support [Dennis’s] alibi [ ] because the murder occurred at 1:50 p.m., forty minutes earlier than Cason’s earliest estimate” of when she saw Dennis. Id. The Court further held that the corrected testimony “would have been cumulative of testimony of witness Willis Meredith, who testified that he saw [Dennis] at the Abbottsford Homes at approximately 2:15 to 2:30 p.m.” Id. The Court dismissed'the Brady claim because the receipt was “not exculpatory, because it had no bearing on [Dennis’s] alibi, and there [was] no evidence that the Commonwealth withheld the receipt from the defense.” Id. S. AEDPA Review The state court ruling was a reasoned ruling that the District Court could understand; no gaps needed to be filled. Dennis was entitled to habeas relief based on the Cason Brady claim only if he could demonstrate that the decision was an unreasonable application of, or contrary to, clearly established law, or an unreasonable determination of the facts. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d). Addressing the reasoned view of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, we conclude that it unreasonably applied Brady and its progeny in evaluating the Cason receipt and made unreasonable determinations of fact. The receipt would have served as independent documentary corroboration of a key witness for Dennis’s alibi defense, and suppression by the Commonwealth violated Brady. a) Favorability The Cason receipt provided exculpatory and impeachment evidence that would have bolstered Dennis’s alibi defense at trial, so it easily meets Brady’s first prong. Banks, 540 U.S. at 691, 124 S.Ct. 1256 (stating that both impeachment and exculpatory evidence satisfy the first Bradiy prong). The Pennsylvania Supreme Court erred by failing to recognize the impeachment value of the Cason receipt, which would have provided documentary evidence that Cason testified falsely at trial. The United States Supreme Court has made plain that impeachment evidence may be considered favorable under Brady even if the jury might not afford it significant weight. See Kyles, 514 U.S. at 450-51, 115 S.Ct. 1555 (rejecting the state’s argument that the evidence was “neither impeachment nor exculpatory evidence” because the jury might not have substantially credited it; according to the Court, “[s]uch [an] argument ... confuses the weight of the evidence with its favorable tendency”). Dennis’s defense strategy pitted his credibility, and that of his witnesses, against eyewitness credibility, Cason’s testimony, and the testimony of the other prosecution witnesses. No physical evidence was admitted at trial. Evidence that challenged Dennis’s credibility, or that of other defense witnesses dike his father, was therefore particularly crucial to the outcome of the trial. As the District Court aptly noted:. Armed with the receipt, Dennis’s counsel — at the very least — would have been able to show that Cason was mistaken about the timing of the afternoon, by pointing out that she could not possibly have worked until 2 p.m. since she was at the DPW center at 1:03 p.m. ... The time stamped receipt would have directly contradicted [Cason’s testimony that she didn’t get off work until 2:00 p.m.]. Dennis V, 966 F.Supp.2d at 508. Without evidence to challenge the veracity of Ca-son’s testimony, Dennis’s assertion that he saw Cason as he got off the K bus lost significant credibility, as did his father’s corroboration of Dennis’s version of his timeline. Further, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court erroneously concluded that the receipt was not exculpatory because it did not affect Dennis’s alibi. Dennis I, 715 A.2d at 408. It held that Cason’s revised recollection of the day “would not support [Dennis’s] alibi [ ] because the murder occurred at 1:50 p.m., forty minutes earlier than Cason’s earliest estimate.” Id. This conclusion fails to recognize how Cason’s corrected testimony corroborates testimony provided by Dennis and other witnesses, namely, his father. The Commonwealth argues that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court reasonably concluded that the receipt did not require disclosure pursuant to Brady because Ca-son’s corrected testimony would not have made it impossible for Dennis to have been at Fern Rock station when Williams was murdered. Cason’s affidavit stated that she saw Dennis at 2:30 p.m. at Abbottsford Homes. The Commonwealth contends that Dennis could have committed the murder at Fern Rock at 1:50 p.m. and returned to Abbottsford Homes by 2:30 p.m. because the shooter entered a waiting getaway car after the murder and it was a thirteen minute drive between the two. This view unreasonably discounts the buttressing effect Cason’s corrected testimony would have on Dennis’s alibi theory. Although Cason’s corrected testimony, assuming it would mirror precisely what she said in her affidavit, would not definitively place Dennis in a location where it was impossible for him to commit the murder, Cason’s testimony would have strengthened Dennis’s and his father’s testimony that Dennis had been with his father that afternoon and was on the bus at the time of the murder. Validating Dennis’s and his father’s testimony about his alibi on the day in question is sufficient to demonstrate favorability under Brady. Exculpatory evidence need not show defendant’s innocence conclusively. Under Brady, “[e]xculpatory evidence