Amid outcry over Ashton Kutcher’s letter for Danny Masterson, other letters, including a child porn defendant’s, highlight judicial complexity

Criminal defendants' family and friends often write letters to judges prior to sentencing. What they say and how they factor into sentences is complicated.

Matthew Miechkowsk was arrested in 2020 for possessing child pornography and using the Internet to solicit a minor. His family and friends wrote several letters to the Los Angeles federal judge who sentenced him in July. (Photo via Riverside County District Attorney’s Office)

As far as sentencing letters go, Ashton Kutcher’s and Mila Kunis’ letters for t…