public class CheckBoxTree extends JTree {


    public CheckBoxTree() {
        super();
        init();
    }

    public CheckBoxTree(TreeModel newModel) {
        super(newModel);
        init();
    }

    private void init() {
        setCellRenderer(new CheckBoxRenderer());
        addMouseListener(new MyMouseAdapter());
    }

    private DefaultTreeCellRenderer renderer = new DefaultTreeCellRenderer();

    class CheckBoxRenderer extends JCheckBox implements TreeCellRenderer {
        public CheckBoxRenderer() {
            setOpaque(false);
        }


        public Component getTreeCellRendererComponent(JTree tree, Object value, boolean selected, boolean expanded, boolean leaf, int row, boolean hasFocus) {
            if (!(value instanceof SelectableItem)) {
                return renderer.getTreeCellRendererComponent(tree, value, selected, expanded, leaf, row, hasFocus);
            }
            SelectableItem data = (SelectableItem) value;
            setSelected(data.isSelected());
            setText(data.getName());
            return this;
        }
    }

    class MyMouseAdapter extends MouseAdapter {
        public void mousePressed(MouseEvent e) {
            TreePath path = getPathForLocation(e.getX(), e.getY());
            //TreePath path = getClosestPathForLocation(e.getX(), e.getY());
            if (path == null) {
                return;
            }
            Object data = path.getLastPathComponent();
            if (data instanceof SelectableTopicItemData) {
                TreeModel model = getModel();
                SelectableItem selectable = (SelectableItem) data;
                if (model instanceof MenuListModel) {
                    MenuListModel mod = (MenuListModel) model;
                    mod.setSelected(selectable, !selectable.isSelected());

                }
                repaint();
            }
        }
    }
}

    public void setSelected(SelectableItem data, boolean selected) {
           data.setSelected(selected);
           //дополнительные действия
    }
    public List getSelected() {
           //к примеру, элементы хранятся в списке items;
           List res = new ArrayList();
           for (Iterator it = items.iterator(); it.hasNext();) {
                    if (data instanceof SelectableItem && ((SelectableItem)data).isSelected()) {
                        res.add(((SelectableItem)data).getItem());
                        //добавляем к результату нужный объект, а не обертку!!!
                    }
           }
           return res;
    }

public class SelectableItem {
    private boolean selected = false;
    private Object item = null;

    public SelectableTopicItemData(Object data) {
        item = data;
    }


    public boolean isSelected() {
        return selected;
    }

    public void setSelected(boolean selected) {
        this.selected = selected;
    }

    public String toString() {
        return item.toString();
    }


    public Object getItem() {
        return item;
    }
}

        MenuListModel menuListModel = new MenuListModel();
        CheckBoxTree topics = new CheckBoxTree();
        topics.setModel(menuListModel);
        Person person = new Person();
        SelectableItem item1 = new SelectableItem(person);
        menuListModel.add(item1);
        ...
        List items = menuListModel.getSelectedItems();