https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/12/03/santa-clara-county-why-were-more-people-getting-felony-charges-for-court-no-shows/ > SAN JOSE — Earlier this year, line-level public defenders in Santa Clara County started noticing an unexpected trend: Criminal defendants were suddenly getting new charges added to their existing charges — specifically for not showing up to court. > There are a lot of reasons why people don’t show up to court. For public defenders, the factors they typically see are often a combination of poverty, language barriers, and homelessness, with the latter situation making it hard to receive mail notices and phone calls.