By making public statements, you're talking straight to the prosecutor/opposing attorney. As the warning says: Anything you say may be used against you in court.
Yes, they can ask you all kinds of questions about what you said and make you appear quite talkative.
Say nothing and you can truthfully say repeatedly that you said nothing. You'll be able to consistently tell the truth on the stand without having to explain any of your statements, statements that the prosecution will attempt to twist into incriminating statements.
Of course, if you do the same to the prosecutor before trial, the chances of you making it to trial go down. Prosecutors like to win their cases.
Not only that, but it specifically says against you. Note that it doesn't say anything you say can and will be used as evidence in a court of law.
A police officer can testify to statements you made or actions you took that will incriminate you. But if the defense counsel asks them to testify to similar statements or actions that will exonerate you, the prosecution will object to it as hearsay, and it will be sustained. You'll need to take the stand to make such claims, which opens you up to cross-examination.
> I do not know what edge cases the addition of "But, it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court." was meant to protect against
Technically this is true. If you make a statement to the police, then that statement can be used as evidence at trial (both against you and in your defence). If you don’t make a statement, then the only way to get your testimony in front of the jury (should that be necessary), is to take the stand, where you will be subjected to cross examination. A process where you (probably not a lawyer) will have to argue with a lawyer who will be doing their best to make you trip over every single thing you say, in front of a jury, for a number of hours.
So while it does potentially have a benefit, it’s still always a bad idea, because you’ll want to see the discovery before you say anything at all.
All people should fear self incrimination. Prosecutors don't know you, your history, or care. If they suspect they can get a conviction from anyone, they will try, regardless of their role in unrelated cases. One normal healthy human accidental inconsistency in your story can ruin you forever. Accidental self incrimination of the innocent is not to be taken lightly. Always have a lawyer present when talking to a prosecutor.
You could always go with "Nothing you say can be used against you without declaration of intent (ie 'we are arresting you for ___') and representation"
Your statements can and will be used againt you, but they will never be used in your favour ("hearsay"). If you have something to say, wait to say it on the stand, in front of a jury. Until then, it will hurt you, and it won't help you.
It's good legal advice not to discuss the trial with someone, as they can be called as witness against you. Even if you don't say anything incriminating to them, it could disrupt their life in a way that you don't want to happen.
The Miranda warning says "Anything you say MAY be used against you in a court of law." They don't have to tell the court, judge or anyone else... but they may.
Ok, the situation is more nuanced than I might have indicated. There is a right to silence in criminal law, and you can remain silent in civil law too. You cannot be prosecuted for remaining silent, or directly legally coerced into giving a statement.
However, specific inferences can be drawn from your silence in some circumstances. For example not mentioning something in you statement to police that you later rely on for your defence in court can be taken into account.
So we don't have an absolute right to remain silent, and doing so under suspicious circumstances can get you in trouble, but you can't be prosecuted just for not making a statement.
> Interestingly, people usually don't want to be deposed when they have something to hide.
You don't need to have done anything wrong to fear a deposition. Go to youtube and watch any number of "do not talk to police" lectures. An innocent person can end up trapping themselves in a lie, or bow to pressure. Or you may say something that you think is harmless but in fact damns you. Depositions should be avoided wherever possible.
I highly doubt that any speech that's part of a one sentence explanation of your civil rights is going to land up working against you in court. The odds of that are lost in the noise of the odds that the officer will fabricate evidence against you, including spoken declarations you never actually spoke.
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