Rodeo man convicted of killing one half-brother, then scaring another into jumping from a second

MARTINEZ — A Rodeo man was acquitted of murder but convicted of voluntary manslaughter for killing his half-brother in 2022, an act he testified at trial was done in self-defense.

Joseph Gladney, 26, was convicted of voluntary manslaughter with an enhancement for personal use of a firearm in the shooting death of 25-year-old Vinson Bragg, as well as a charge of threatening to kill another half-brother who lived in the family home. The surviving half-brother was so scared of Gladney’s threat that he jumped from a second-story window, breaking both his legs, then crawled on his stomach to safety, prosecutors said.

Gladney remains jailed in Contra Costa, and is set to be sentenced in November, court records show.

At the end of trial last Thursday, Gladney’s lawyer argued that Bragg shot at