INDIO — Rape charges were dropped against the brother of the mayor of Coachella and another man after prosecutors decided they could not prove their case, a district attorney's office spokesman said Thursday.

Felony charges of rape by force and oral copulation by force were dismissed Wednesday against Ivan Esteban Garcia and David Sanchez, both 23, according to court records.

Garcia is the brother of Coachella Mayor Eduardo Garcia, but prosecutors and defense attorneys said that had nothing to do with the dismissal or the case.

The men had been accused of raping a woman they knew April 4 at a home in Coachella.

Prosecutors decided to drop the charges after receiving new information about the case, said Michael Jeandron of the Riverside County District Attorney's Office.

“After reviewing that information, we no longer believed that we could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that these men had committed a crime and declined to pursue criminal charges,” Jeandron said. “As we believed that we could no longer prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt, we didn't want to subject the victim to further questioning.”

Garcia's attorney, Susanne Cho, said the woman had participated in a consensual threesome.

“I commend the D.A.'s office,” Cho said. “They evaluated the case and decided they didn't want to pursue it anymore.”

The defense attorney said that even though the men were ordered to stand trial on the charges during a preliminary hearing in October, the judge had many questions about the case.

Cho said she and another defense attorney provided more information during the hearing on what happened, prompting prosecutors to re-evaluate the case.