TV legal legend Fred Graham implored a judge yesterday to allow TV cameras into Robert Blake’s murder trial, but the judge said they would be too distracting for witnesses.

“I pledge that we will use our expertise in a way that will not be a disruption,” said Graham, the folksy Tennessee lawyer who came to prominence as CBS’s legal correspondent covering Watergate and now is anchor of Court TV’s “Open Court.”

Graham is an attorney, but it was highly unusual to see a TV reporter – rather than a praticing lawyer – in court arguing motions before a sitting judge.