In what circumstances will a defendant's defense counsel argue that his voluntary use of alcohol and pain killers supports his argument of a provoked attempted killing?

Third, to the extent petitioner argues that his voluntary use of alcohol and pain killers supports his argument of a provoked attempted killing, it is clearly established in California that "the test [of] whether provocation is adequate is whether 'an average, sober person would be so inflamed that he or she would lose reason and judgment,' " and "voluntary intoxication [cannot] 'negate express malice so as to reduce a murder to voluntary manslaughter.'" People v. Rangel, 62 Cal. 4th 1192, 1226 (2016). Given this principle, it was reasonable for petitioner's defense counsel to avoid the futile argument that petitioner's involuntary intoxication should have been considered a mitigating circumstance to his attempted murder charge.