When Stan Garnett took over as Boulder district attorney in 2009, one of his priorities was to take more cases to trial — something he felt his predecessors did not do enough of.

So from cold-case murders to difficult sex assaults to retrials, Garnett has strived to put more cases in the hands of Boulder County jurors, and it is one of the things he takes pride in as he prepares to step down at the end of February.

“Boulder is a community that is very proud, and one of the things I have been very proud of is that I know the Boulder community expects us, when we get a tough case, to be able to handle it and handle it well,” he said. “It doesn’t always mean we win it, but we will handle it in a way that is respectful and focused, and present it to a jury.”

While Garnett prioritized hiring lawyers who could handle trials, he also made sure to get in the courtroom himself. Of the cases he personally prosecuted, Garnett said two stand out to him: the murder of Todd Walker by Kevin McGregor on Boulder’s University Hill and the Longmont fetal abduction case — both cases in which Garnett served as lead prosecutor.

“Sometimes DA’s carry the trauma of these cases,” he said. “Those are the two cases I carry with me.”

Garnett admitted that those sorts of crimes played a factor in his decision to leave.

“I started out my career as a prosecutor and then went into private practice for 22 years,” he said. “When I came back, I had forgotten how cruel humans can be to each other until I did this job again. I will not mind going to work in an office where every day I’m not dealing with the awful things people can do to each other.”

It wasn’t all dark though. In fact, Garnett’s face broke into a wide grin when he discussed another trial he prosecuted.

“I don’t know that there will ever be another criminal trial in the history of America like the elk trial,” he said, referencing the trial of former Boulder police officer Sam Carter, who was convicted of misconduct for shooting an elk on Mapleton Hill and then trying to cover it up.

“That’s a case that is vintage Boulder County, vintage city of Boulder. It had police corruption. It was a very interesting trial, and obviously there was some sadness to that case, but not the kind of human loss we have in other cases.

“I loved that case.”

Of course, fair or not, all Boulder district attorneys are judged in part on how they handle one of the county’s most notorious cases: the death of JonBenet Ramsey.

While there weren’t many new developments during Garnett’s tenure, the case was transferred back to the Boulder Police Department and true bills signed by a grand jury during Hunter’s term were finally brought to light after a Daily Camera reporter sued for their release.

“I’m proud of the work we’ve done on the case,” he said of the Ramsey investigation. “I feel like we’ve handled that case according to best practices. Obviously, that case is not Boulder County law enforcement’s greatest moment, but I feel like we’ve been able to handle it appropriately.”

But Garnett anticipates he will not be the last district attorney to leave office with the case still unsolved.

“My expectation is that charges will never be filed in the Ramsey case,” he said. “The combination of some problems at the crime scene and early in the investigation, in my mind, are impossible to overcome.”

Mitchell Byars: 303-473-1329, byarsm@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/mitchellbyars