Vaidik, J.
On direct examination, Officer Morgan testified that Gray said the cocaine did not belong to the driver. See Tr. p. 34. But at his deposition, Officer Morgan testified that Gray said “he did not claim [the cocaine] was [the driver’s];” in other words, Gray said he did not want to blame the driver. [Footnote omitted.] The State argues that this is not an inconsistency and that the statements are “very similar.” Appellee’s Br. p. 7. We disagree. Definitively stating that something does not belong to someone is quite different from saying you are unwilling to say that something belongs to someone or that you are unwilling to blame that person. This is especially true in the situation here, where drugs were found and only two people were present. If Gray said the cocaine did not belong to the driver he would impliedly be saying that he knew who the drugs belonged to, and from this, the jury could infer that the drugs belonged to him.
Because there was an inconsistency in the officer’s testimony, Gray contends that he should have been allowed to impeach Officer Morgan with his deposition testimony. We agree. Gray should have been permitted to play the specific portion of the tape that contained the inconsistent deposition testimony and give the officer an opportunity to explain the inconsistency. Ind. Evidence Rule 613(a); see Appleton, 740 N.E.2d at 125-26 (“Once [the witness] denied [the defendant’s] involvement in the events, the State should have made [the witness] aware of specific portions of his testimony that were inconsistent . . . and given him an opportunity to explain those inconsistencies.). Allowing a defendant to reference specific portions of a prior inconsistent statement—rather than reading or playing a tape of the entire statement—avoids the danger of allowing the statement to come before the jury improperly as substantive evidence. Appleton, 740 N.E.2d at 126 (finding error where the State read, line-by-line, a witness’s pretrial statement, saying that “the only purpose of such recitation [] would be to get the details of the . . . former statement before the jury as substantive evidence.”). Here, we find that the trial court erred by excluding the tape of Officer Morgan’s deposition.
Although we conclude that Gray was entitled to use a specific portion of the tape, he went about doing so in the wrong way. Gray played the tape without any notice to the court. The court was well within its discretion in refusing to allow Gray to play the tape when the court had no knowledge of its content. However, Gray explained that he intended to use only a specific portion of the tape and made it available to the court. The court should have examined the portion of the tape Gray wished to use and determined whether it was inconsistent with Officer Morgan’s testimony. Given that the portions Gray wished to play were in fact inconsistent with the officer’s testimony, it was error to prevent Gray from playing the relevant portions of the tape.
BAILEY, J., and BROWN, J., concur.