Deleting Trash can

[Kent Frazier]

I have experienced the same problem.  I solve it by using:
sudo rm -R ~/.Trash/* (type carefully, a typo here could be disastrous)
I understand why it won't let you delete files that you have no
permission for, what I don't get is how it lets you send them to the
Wastebasket if you have no permission to modify them.  If you can
trash them, you should be able to delete them.  If it isn't going to
let you delete them permanently, it shouldn't let you put them in the
wastebasket.  At least that's the way it seems to me.  There may be
reasons that I am not aware of, but that seems like much more
consistent behavior.  It also seems a lot less likely to confuse the
hell out of new users.

Kent