opinion: Per Curiam.
  The Court is advised that the petitioner died in Springfield, Missouri, on November 16, 1998. The Court’s order granting the writ of certiorari, see 523 U. S. 1019 (1998), therefore is vacated, and the petition for certiorari is dismissed. See United States v. Green, 507 U. S. 545 (1993) (per curiam).
  It is so ordered.